The Legend of Zelda : Day of Death
by Jonathan Dupont
Summary: Ganondorf's ecape sets in motion a series of events which will forever change our heroes' lives, and lead them onto a journey beyond the world of even Hyrule itself. A complete and finished novel.
1. One

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Authors note: The end of Zelda V and what I have learnt of the   
beginning of the Japanese version of Zelda VI have still not made  
clear to me exactly what happened at the end of Zelda V. Because   
of this, I have purposely left the subject vague.  
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The bright morning sun slowly begun to rise above the horizon of the ancient desert. Its light travelled across the never ending sand; and unveiled the macabre scene to the world. Twenty four stone slabs laid out in a circular arrangement. In the centre of them was located another stone slab, but this one was made out of pure white marble.

The occupant of this slab behaved differently as well. While the other victims tried to pull themselves free from the cruel bonds, which kept them held tight to the stone, the young girl on this one did not even move, or shout in fear.

The sun had finally broken free from the ground when the only standing figure appeared. He was dressed in a simple brown robe, whose hood managed to cover his face in shadow. Slowly, this man walked to the first stone slab, a small dagger clutched tightly in his fist. He did not hurry; for he had all the time he needed.

The man, if he could be called a man, as he could not be much past eighteen, stared up at the figure; his screams stopped in fright. His eye became obsessed the glint of light gleaming off that cruel dagger. Finally, the brown robe was above him, and the young man could just make out the muttering as being in the old language.

Finally, the robed man finished his words, nodded his head slightly, and then flung his arm down into the other one's chest. Then, he pulled out of a pocket a small rag of material, and began to wipe the blood off the knife.

Gradually, every victim was silenced; their lives were taken. The murdered stopped, looked up at the now high in the sky sun, and then moved towards the white marble. This time, his muttering went on for much longer, and instead on simply stabbing her through the heart, he carved a wide crescent in her flesh.

"Thank you," he told, stroking her face slightly, and brushing some of her bright red hair.

Then, he turned on his heel and walked away; never to return there again.

Only several hours later did two also red haired women find the sacrificial site. For a minute they just stared, and then feeling slightly sick, asked each other a question which would be repeated a lot over the next few days.

"What have we done?" 

**One **

Her name was Tai. She was one of the desert thieves, commonly known as the Gerudos. She had short red hair, was medium height, and had eyes that burned with passion. The eyes betrayed her, for even though she had a simple form, she was about as strong as her kind could get.

Now she was leaning forward, bent down as far on her knees as she could go, and staring at the giant statue of her god which was hidden deep within the Spirit Temple. She felt into the small yellow pouch that she always kept with her and drew out a small glass bottle. It was filled with a yellow dust that to the common eye looked just like sand. She uncorked it, drew out some of the dust and threw it into the air before her. For a moment in hung in the air as a large yellow cloud.

Then, the air shimmered like it was a mirage and slowly Nura, the god depicted in the statue, began to glow red. Nura was emerging from the spirit world and reawakening into the statue. The deformed face, melted 7 years ago by the traitor, began to re-materialise into its proper grandness. It was impossible to tell that the one she hated had ever melted it.

_What is it?_

Tai shivered, as she always shivered when her mind became connected to that great mass of knowledge. "I need more," her voice shakily replied.

_More?_

"Yes," she breathed, "for him."

_For who?_

Normally Tai would have got annoyed at hearing that question which she always heard but she knew that Nura listened to such much that it was impossible for her to be able to remember information quickly.

"I hear you," the Gerudo chanted, using the old ceremony, "read me."

Her mind became no longer her own, only a part of a much greater and bigger conscience, the conscience of Nura. But she could only feel the power not read any thoughts, like she was just a memory of days long gone by hidden in Nura's mind. In an instant, Tai relived every scene in her live, from her birth to when she had first entered the old Temple. The pain and the pleasure combined, and at that moment she felt like shrieking in terror and in enjoyment at the same time.

And then it was no more, and again she was kneeling in front of the red statue waiting for its answer.

He will never return properly, you cannot prevent that. And he is not dead, so you cannot resurrect him. Nothing can break through the barrier of the wise men.

"Please..." she whispered, "with Din's power on our side, surely we could break the barrier of the seven sages."

_Maybe... But he is not like you knew him, Tai. He has secrets that you do not know. And he is different in form._

"I do not care for his sight," Tai said firmly.

_Then I will help you, but you must know that what you want is impossible._

She lowered her head. "Yes," she sighed.

*-*

"Link!" the pleasant voice called out to him.

Smiling, Link slowed his horse, jumped off and ran over to where the ranch girl was standing. Her name was Malon, and she was one of Link's greatest friends. Her bright smile never failed to cheer him up. At the moment she was fixing one of the walls near her home, Lon Lon Ranch.

"Talon got you slaving away?" he asked.

"Ah well," she sighed. "It's my forfeit for going to Zelda's big party tonight."

Zelda's party! He had totally forgotten about that, after receiving the invitation more than two weeks ago. The mentioning of her name made him redden slightly; he was still annoyed at the way she had decided not to speak to him about what had happened, thinking it best if they just all forgot. And he wished she hadn't robbed him of his maturity. After all, he had grown to seventeen naturally; he had just done a lot of sleeping in the process...

"Too busy to race?" he tried.

"Race!" she said, pretending to be indignant. "Talon would kill me if I raced you again. He's still not quite forgotten about all the chaos you caused last time."

"Yeah, but how is he going to know?"

"Well, me walking into the stables and taking out a horse might be a small pointer..."

"Thus is Talon we're talking about? I bet you he's fast asleep."

She glared at him. She was very fond of her father, and didn't appreciate jokes made about him, which unfortunately came very regularly from the majority of Hyrule's residents. Link was about the only person who could get it away with it, without having a very sore face if she was in hearing distance.

"Well..." she relented. "I guess it wouldn't hurt too much..."

"At all," Link corrected.

"Back in a minute," she told him, and she ran back over to the ranch.

Link walked back over to his horse Epona, and gently began to stroke her. He smiled as he remembered the last race. 'Chaos' was perhaps a slight under statement...

"You coming or not?" Malon's call interrupted his reminiscences, and smiling he jumped onto Epona's back. 

"First down to the island in the lake, and then back up to Goron City?" he suggested.

"Agreed," she said, her horse already galloping down the plains. 

*-*

Zelda stared down through the window at the busy courtyard, wishing that she could help the servants in setting up all the tables for the party that night. Yet she knew her father would not approve, and she would never hear the end of it from her brother. He was always going on about the way she acted, and saying that she didn't behave like a person of royalty should. Yet she was so bored just standing here. 

She walked slowly down the nearby steps and made her way over to the stables. Her white horse, Winter, was standing in its normal place, and looked almost as bored as she was. She longed to go charging across the fields in it, or to jump across deep chasms. Instead she could only occassionally go on rides with Impa, and then they didn't tend to go too fast.

At least this party would be something interesting to do. Half the people in Hyrule were coming to it, including even the Kokiri who had finally been persuaded to leave their forest. It should be a celebration like had never been held of for many years. 

It had taken a lot of convincing before her father had agreed to the idea. After all, he had argued, what was it even to celebrate? And so she had had to, well not exactly lie, yet not really tell him the whole truth, and say that it was just to celebrate the summer. In her mind though she knew it was celebrating something far more important than that.

"You will be strong; won't you?" said an old voice. 

She stared around her and found that she had walked right into Rauru. 

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Something momentous is going to happen," the man explained. "There are signs - I have not seen the like of them for many years since... you know."

She shivered. Surely he was mistaken? After all she had had no strange dreams for ages, hadn't she? Unless you counted that one when she was trapped on that stone slab in the desert. But wasn't that just a nightmare?

"What kind of momentous something?" she said slowly.

"I do not know," he replied truthfully. "But... do not let your guard down. Be ready for anything fate may throw at you. I fear that this all may concern you."

"I'll be ready," she told him as he moved away. Now there was something that she could do. Quickly she ran up to her bedroom, searched her chest, and brought it out. Her bow! Smiling she made her way back down again to the archery range and began to shoot at some targets.

She smiled as her arrow shot in not far off the centre of the target. Yes, she would be ready. Let fate throw at her whatever it could, and she would be ready to counter it. She wasn't afraid... Yet.

*-*

"Come on!" Link shouted at Epona, willing her to go faster even though he knew she was at her limit. The race had been fairly close all the way and yet he had stayed lagging slightly behind Malon since the start.

Malon had just crossed over the bridge spanning Zora's River when Link decided to take a slight short cut. He steered his horse slightly to the left and she was forced to jump. For a moment he thought he would make it, and then for another he thought that he would come crashing down into the water.

His former thought proved correct and relieved he found that he had gained a lot of ground on Malon who had not yet reached the steps up to Kakariko Village. The two horses reached them at nearly the same time, with Malon's creature just in head.

"Getting better fairy boy," smiled back Malon as she crossed into the village itself. The phrase was pretty much redundant now seeing as he had not even seen Navi for the last six months.

A chicken hastily jumped out of the way as their two horses leapt up the left side of the village, not bothering to take the steps. An old woman staring out of a window in one of the houses scowled disapprovingly, while several small children cheered them on.

Then they were on the final stretch up the Death Mountain Trail, and Malon's horse was starting to slow just slightly. Epona had always had slightly more stamina. "Come on," he whispered to her, "it's not far now."

Around the corner past Dodonogo's Cave they sped, now with the two horses head to head. The stones tumbled in a mini avalanche down behind them as they shot up the last path, their concentration so high that they didn't even notice the Goron which went speeding past them.

Malon began nudging her horse further right and to his horror Link found that he was heading dangerously near to the edge. For a while he tried to push back to the left, but it was no use. Finally he gave up and slowed down, letting Malon charge past and through the doors of the underground city. Smiling, Link followed her in.

A few of the Gorons looked bemused as she began cheering.

"You can't even beat me..." she crowed, as Epona slowly walked in.

"Just because you were cheating," he protested, "you were getting downright dangerous on that last bit. Did you want to kill me or something?"

"It's called tactics," she told him. "If you can't handle them..."

"Of course he can," defended a young Goron voice.

"Hi Link!" said Link, to his Goron namesake. 

"Hi!" said the friendly child, as he waddled out of a nearby tunnel. "Are you going to the party too?"

"Yeah... I guess so," he replied. "Are you coming?"

Bad answer. The Goron immediately began to look incredibly downcast. "No," he muttered. "Dad won't let me go. He thinks that I'm too young."

Link tried to hide his look of relief, and his not entirely successful attempt caused Malon to smile broadly. He liked the kid a lot, but his hero worship did get a bit annoying after a while, and the thought of a night being asked endless questions terrified him.

"Well... I'm sure you'll go to lots of parties when you're older," he reassured the Goron.

"I suppose," the Goron sighed, "That's what everyone says. It's always 'maybe when you're older.' I want to do something now. Have an adventure, some excitement in my life."

"How about sometime next week we go on an excursion together?" Link suggested. "You can show me what it's like on the other side of Death Mountain or something."

The Goron nodded slowly, and then at the sound of his father's voice said his goodbyes and left. Malon nodded at Link, and the two of them started on the long trek back to Lon Lon Ranch. They stayed silent as their horses walked, and both of them began to contemplate their own problems and other thoughts.

"See you tonight," Malon said in farewell when they finally reached the old building, and Link nodded.

*-*

"You look great!"

Link stared at Saria's smiling face. She was in her element, going from Kokiri to Kokiri and organising them for the big excursion tonight. She loved organisation, and this party had given her a load of it. 

Normally he would have trusted her judgement, but he couldn't get used to these new 'official' red Kokiri clothes that they were wearing. He had told her that it would be easier for him to just wear his Goron Tunic, but she had said that that would be going against the spirit of things.

He smiled as he stared around the rest of the Kokiri. Sometimes he had felt a bit ridiculous staying with them, especially as he towered twice as high as any of them. Then again, he had never liked to leave them, and he had grown fond of his tree house. Someday he would have to leave, but not quite yet.

"I don't feel great," he replied to her.

"Link," she said, suddenly serious. "I know you don't like wearing it, but... Please try at least. I'd really appreciate it. Some of the others are starting to think that... Well, it doesn't matter, but can you try?"

He nodded slowly, wondering what was wrong. She was dressed, as normal in the last few years, perfectly, without a thread out of place. She smiled for a moment, and then moved over to check if Mido was all right. 

Finally, ready at last, all thirty of them began to slowly walk out of the forest. Most of them had now ventured out before this, but they had done it sufficiently little for them to be excited at seeing the great green plains again.

Epona wondered on behind them, slightly disappointed that Link had not chosen to ride her, not knowing that he would feel awkward riding whilst the others were on their feet. She was actually quite happy to walk slowly as she had been tired out by the race, although she would have galloped off again at a word from her master.

It had gotten dark while they were walking, but they could easily see the town because of the many fires lighting it up. As they came near the Zora River they met up with a few people who were still coming from Kakariko Village. Luckily, the drawbridge had been left down even beyond dark and so they had no problems getting in.

All the shops were closed and the stalls were packed away but no one wanted to go to them anyway. Everyone followed the same path through the market square, up the small dirt path and stairs, over another drawbridge, down a few corridors and then finally into the busy courtyard. It was lit up by hundreds of candles, although they probably wouldn't have been needed thanks to the strong moonlight. 

Now the Kokiri were really amazed, staring around in wonder at all the tall humans and even stranger the huge yellow creatures or the graceful blue people sitting in the small river. Link knew that the Zoras didn't need to be in water, but they much preferred it. He smiled as several servants came over and led the Kokiri to a huge table that had been prepared for them. Link was thankful that it had not been made especially small for them, because although once they were helped up the Kokiri didn't mind not being able to touch the floor with their feet he would have been terrible embarrassed having to try to fit into a small chair. The jokes Malon would have made about it for the next few months would have been bad enough.

Speaking of Malon... Where was she? Finally Link spotted her, sitting at the end of a table by her father and looking curiously at the Kokiri. As were the majority of the people there for that matter. Link looked around again to see whom he could see. He quickly avoided looking at Princess Ruto and then smiled at Darunia who was sitting at a lively table of Gorons who looked like they were having a lot of fun. Link almost wished that he could be sitting with them. 

Noticeably absent were the Gerudos. They hadn't done any stealing for a long, long time and liked to keep themselves to themselves, and yet move of the rest of Hyrule's people had at least a strong dislike to them. The only one who was here was Nabooru, and she was sitting at the royal table with the King, Queen, Prince and...

"Good evening your Highness," curtsied Saria to the now roving Zelda. So that was where was Zelda was. The princess smiled and nodded at Saria and then at the rest of the people sitting there. Her eyes passed over Link, stayed for a while, and then quickly hurried on.

"It's been a long time," he said to her.

Slightly shocked, she turned around and, now not trying to hide her glance, looked hard at him. 

"Your majesty," hinted Saria in a whisper.

Link ignored his friend and spoke again to Zelda. "Don't you think?"

"Yes," she finally admitted. "Time does pass quickly doesn't it? If you've finished, I think I'll go now."

She pointedly turned her back on him and returned to the head table. Link almost glared at her. Why was she still so keen to ignore him? After all he had done, couldn't she at least talk to him?

"I think you annoyed her," said Saria, rather stating the obvious.

That was it. Now properly glaring around at the staring Kokiri he reached for the nearest bottle. Drinking could at least stop him thinking till the morning. After all, he only needed to have one or two glasses...

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Saria at one pointed asked him, but annoyed at being questioned he just began to drink again.

Finally when he could drink no more he organised his thoughts enough to realise that everyone was slowly beginning to leave now. He didn't think he could stand the dreadfully slow pace of the rest of the Kokiri, so he stumbled off on his own.

Miraculously he reached the fields safely, but as he stared out into the distance he really couldn't be bothered to walk on further. Suddenly realising how he was, he dropped underneath a nearby bush and fell into a beautifully deep sleep. 

*-*

The blue flames were the only things that showed any light in the dark chamber of the Spirit Temple, burning away in their strange ornamental candles. They cast a weird blue glow over Tai as she worked.

Yet again, she studied the old book that was laid out in front of her, changing the details of the summon spell to match her needs. She pulled out of a jar the hair that she had searched for. A hair of the traitor, the traitor who had been given free access to anywhere in the fortress, and then had killed their king. The days searching the floor of the temple to find it would be worth it. She knew enough Medicine to know that it would have the faintest traces of Links blood, enough for her.

She placed it into a blue liquid that quickly turned a deep red. She poured the liquid into some empty bottles. If she needed to, she could always repeat the spell; although for some reason she knew that she wouldn't.

Then she performed the altered part of the ceremony, taking out a strong acidic liquid, which had had some of the sand-like substance dissolved into it, and drank the whole bottle. 

Immediately she felt much stronger, stronger than if she had... The mystical golden gauntlets on? No, stronger than that. Strong enough to lift the whole Spirit Temple with her bare hands and throw it into that hated Hyrule Castle. Fast enough to beat any horse in a race on her own feet. She knew that the call had worked. She had summoned Nura into her own body and soul. Now, until she released her, she was immortal.

Smiling, she hesitated for a moment to let the impact of what she was about to do sink into her, and then poured the red liquid into a stone basin on the floor, shouting out the powerful words she had memorised as she did so. 

The words started in her normal voice, but even as she spoke they changed, and became deeper, stronger and more sinister.

She pulled an old Deku stick from her pouch and lit it in the blue flames before pushing it into the red liquid. Immediately the liquid was on fire, a strange, magical red fire that rose and formed a circle in the air, a gate the golden realm.

But in the hole was a yellow barrier, stopping anyone from getting in or out - the seal created by the sages. Tai pushed out her arms, and let the blue energy run from them and into the yellow seal. But although normally she even a wizard would be struggling to keep this amount of power up, she was using the very lowest of her power, and soon more and more blue power was surging out. The power was so great that the seal shook, and Tai could see through it into the land beyond.

And then, from the other side a powerful red beam shot into the seal, and Tai knew it was the power of the Triforce that represented Din, the goddess of power. And now with two God's powers on it, the seal created by seven mortals shook, shattered, and then was gone.

For a moment there was silence, and Tai stood there, breathing heavily and wondering what was going to happen. Then, with a swagger in his walk that he had not used for seven years, his looks returned back to their former manlike self, Ganondorf walked out of the Sacred Realm.

And Tai, for the first time, could see her master, and if it were not for the pain from Nura trying to escape, she would have been in complete ecstasy. Ganondorf smiled, and said simply, "Give her to me." 

His eyes seemed to burn into her mind, and her hand almost instinctively reached out for the sceptre he held. A moment later, she was weak again and the sceptre looked like it would burst with the power it held in it.

Ganondorf stared around him, and a deep hatred began to raise itself in his heart. He hated this land and what had done to him. He would have his revenge, and noone would be able to stop him.

And so he gave his first order: "Destroy this place," he commanded, almost calmly. The light burst out of it, a terrifyingly strong light that nothing would be able to hold. It tore throughout the land, carrying out its deadly mission.

This land needed a saviour, but its hero was drunk, asleep under a bush.

And so Hyrule was destroyed. 


	2. Two

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Authors note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and if you haven't yet, I would appreciate it if you did. Sorry, if you want to read more of this fanfic soon as I'm going on a 2 week holiday. However when I get back (hopefully) there should be a shorter time delay between chapters. This is the second draft of the fanfic, and the first few chapters need quite a lot of work (they've been virtually rewritten) whereas the later ones (which are also a lot longer) shouldn't need as much work. Anyway, enough of my rambling:

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**Two **

_What was that?_

_Zelda found herself jerked out of any sleepiness she might have had. Sitting up in her bed, she looked round the dark room and tried to remember what had disturbed her. It must have been a sound that had awoken her, she finally decided. Probably one of the Gorons still messing around outside the castle. Why couldn't they be quieter? It had taken her so long to get to sleep as it was, and the last thing she had needed was to be woken again._

_She remembered now how she had tossed and turned, trying to get Link out of her mind. At points it had seemed impossible as her mind went over the events of the evening. Why had he had to speak to her again? Everything had been going so well, and now it seemed almost like everything was just waiting to go bad again._

_How terrible those seven years had been, just watching Ganon's forces expand and expand, with nothing seemingly able to stop it. How she had cried at night; guilty at being so safe while noone else was. Every day she had woken up to some new piece of bad news, and at times it had seemed like it would never end. _

_She couldn't bear to think that Rauru's warning might be right, and something of that kind could come to happen again. But, it was silly to blame for her fears. Silly to associate him with what had happened. It hadn't been his fault; well, at least, not much of his fault._

_Again. She had definitely heard a sound again. And this time she knew that it was no Gorons partying. Someone was climbing up her wall. How could she be so sure? After all, it was ridiculous that anyone would be able to go up the steep smooth stone cliff. Yet she knew that she was right._

_For a minute she stayed silent, listening for any sign of the person. She heard nothing; nothing until the face of her mystery intruder was smiling at her through her window. The face, with its deep red eyes and matching hair, only looked her for an instant before its legs swung round and through the window._

_This would be a good time to move, Zelda told herself as the almost Gerudo-like figure approached. Her muscles evidently disagreed with her, as she found that not one of them would obey her._

_The figure stood above her, and revealed the old dagger it had been holding. Finally, it bought it down it an arc of deadly intent. Please let this be a nightmare, Zelda prayed, as the cold blade finally touched her flesh..._

Is this death? Zelda wondered, as she seemed to float without gravity; the only feeling being a terrifying coldness which enveloped her totally. Strange, it seems more like swimming. She forced open her eyes, and the thing that touched them certainly felt like water. Her mouth opened next, before she could realise what a mistake it would be. The terrible salt water flung its way down her throat, and for the first time she realised that she couldn't breathe.

She kicked out with her legs desperately, and then her arms. All thoughts disappeared from her brain, and they were replaced by the animal instinct to survive. Her head finally broke free of the water, and she finally began to cough long and hard; her body retching. As she began to breathe in again, she finally began to wonder where she was. People don't normally find themselves magically transported from a nice soft bed to the ocean.

Her eyes could pick out very little about her, only the bright stars above her, and the terrifying waves stretching about her. For the first time in her life, Zelda knew without a doubt, that she would die.

There seemed little point in trying to keep above the waves, for eventually her head would only sink below them anyway. Even if a ship passed, in the deep blackness of night it would not be able to see her.

She could at least be proud that she would die with honour. She felt sure that when her brother died, if he was able he would be screaming louder than a pig. But no, she would drown silently. It was a pity that there was noone to see her brave act, she couldn't help telling herself.

The night was bitterly cold, and Zelda had just about made up her mind that her death might as well be now, when it happened. It was just the faintest of notes travelling through the sky but somehow it filled her with hope. The note changed, and then again, and she realised that she was listening to the simplest of tunes. The water could crash down on her all it wanted she decided, but as long as she had that tune she would be happy.

If it had been day she might have caught sight of a small black dot in the sky, and guessed that was where the music was coming from. As it was, she had no idea. The dot moved closer to her, as if it was studying her. And then it began to leave, its music growing in the distance.

When it finally came back it was no longer in the air but below her; deep in the sea. And another sound had been added to it. The sound of men shouting; men fanatically chasing their prey, desperate to catch what would give their riches.

But the sound died away, and the depressed men began to turn the ship around to go back onto their original course.

"Hang on!" one of them called. "Isn't that a body?"

His friend snorted. "You're seeing things again."

"You never know," a third joined in. "Maybe it dropped what it had been eating."

"It wouldn't hurt to check it out," the first decided, and finally the second assented.

Their little boat travelled over to nearer the supposed corpse, and the men picked it out of the sea.

"It's a girl," said the first in wonder.

"Clever," muttered the second dryly. "Is she alive?"

The first nodded, and then went back to steering the ship while the second took Zelda below deck where it was warm. And so Zelda slept under her borrowed blankets while one of the men always watched her, and when she finally awoke it was them who were the first Nurans she ever saw.

*-*

The desert was nothing more than a bland yellow when it came down to it. A bland yellow, unbearably bright light and an even worse heat. Nothing else, nothing above from the terrifyingly cold nights.

She had no possessions. No money, no clothes, no food, no name. Nothing apart from her own body that she had been born with. They were her identity, her all. She hadn't even got her memory left. She couldn't remember anything. No idea about her birth, her childhood, her children or her lack of. No idea how long she had wandered through the desert - it could have been days, weeks or even months.

Except then she would have needed water to survive. She had a terrible thirst, but her mind told her that she would have needed water to survive more than a day or two in this heat. That was one of the worst things about this desert. The other was not knowing whether she was getting nearer the edge or just in ever lasting circles.

And finally an ecstatic difference. For an instant the doors of her mind were unlocked and she knew who she was, and a thousand memories flooded back. Yes, even her name. She was called... 

And as quickly as it had come, it all went. What had caused it? She turned round and spotted something in the sand. Something long and metallic. She dusted off the sand covering the now revealed sword, and examined the carvings on its handle. This memory did not come back as quickly as all her others had, but soon Tai had realised what this legendary sword was. The Master Sword, the sword that had defeated her master. 

Why didn't she feel more annoyed? Why did she feel so blank to her old master and even to him. The traitor, after all, hadn't done any of the cruel things that Ganondorf would do when he was angry, even to his own people. Was he that bad? 

What was happening to her? She had never before felt anything other than hate for the traitor. The sword that she was holding, that must be it. Angrily she threw it away and was relieved to find that she could remember everything.

"Afraid of a sword?" came a scornful voice. "It can't kill you without a user."

"Sir... Sir, I..." she stuttered, dropping to her knees and suddenly becoming deeply embarrassed because of her lack of clothes.

"Just call me Ganon. Dorf if you wish." He smiled. "How's things?"

"What did you do to her?" Tai asked the tall green man who had appeared behind her.

"You are devoted to your goddess, aren't you?" remarked her king. "You'll fit in well here."

"Here?" 

"Welcome to Nurai," he told her. "Either original or adopted home of the Gerudos, it hardly matters which. As was Hyrule created by Din, Farore and Nayru this land is made was made by your Nura."

"How come I have never heard of this place before?"

"I believe the term is dimension. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of worlds which are all alike only slightly different. This one being rather different from say Termina or Hyrule as another land is in their respective place."

Tai only understood half of what he said, but she still had many questions left. "What has happened to Hyrule? And you still haven't answered, where is Nura? What do you mean by the original home of the Gerudos?" 

"Hyrule is destroyed, don't you remember? At least temporarily while I am still free. Nura is trapped in this sceptre, and is forced to do my every wish." He waved the sceptre he was clutching in her face while she stared at in horror. 

"As for this place," he continued. "This is where the Gerudos live! Not a small tribe of them like in Hyrule, but a whole country. You're not just pathetic desert thieves either. Pirates, warriors, even simply merchants. You've become almost exactly the same as the Hylinians."

"But, what about men?" she asked.

"Hasn't been one born here for a millennia," he told her. "At least not a proper Gerudo man according to their definition. Apparently, all their men have unclean blood with Hylinian mixed in it. The only proper Gerudo male in this country is me. Well, me and him."

"Him?"

"Tai," Ganondorf asked her. "What do you think of Link?"

"I hate the traitor with all my existence," she said bitterly, temporarily choosing to forget her earlier thoughts.

Ganon laughed. "He is annoying... Yes, he is very annoying. But he is no traitor."

"What?" Tai stared at him, not sure whether she had heard right or not.

"You didn't know my age, did you?"

She shook her head.

"One hundred and seventeen years."

Tai stopped breathing for a second as the full flood of realisation hit her; her whole world turned upside down.

"And unfortunately," Ganon continued. "Now I have told you I guess that you will no longer be of any of use to me. Which is just as well, as your pathetic devotion was getting a bit boring."

For a moment he rose his sceptre as if to command it what would surely be her death. And then he hesitated. His eyes closed and he seemed to actually be whispering to the weapon he held. He smiled at her one final time, spun around on his feet and then marched back into the desert. A gust of sand blocked him from view a moment, and then he was gone.

Still staring after where he had disappeared she picked up the sword, and strode on again. Now that she had her old desert instincts back to her the heat and the thirst did not seem so bad. Besides she had other things to concentrate on in her thoughts.

Her whole life's aim, useless? Had she really spent all her time following that monster? For a moment she considered whether he had cast some spell which had made her blindly follow him, but as much as she wished it she knew that it was not true. 

At last she found the edge of the desert and soon she spotted a woman working with some crops in a field nearby and a town not far behind her. Quietly she crept up behind the woman and then she knocked her out from behind. After quickly putting the other woman's clothes on to her, which just about fit although she wished that there was a sheath where she could place the Master Sword. Finally, she turned around and made her way on into the town 

*-*

The sea was much calmer now, and almost seemed relaxing in the security of the daylight. It lapped up against the side of the boat, and for a while Zelda trailed her hand along in it. Her clothes had by now almost dried off, and the slight breeze was actually pleasantly fresh.

Her body may be alright, but her mind was more confused than it had ever been. When she had woke she had quickly questioned the friendly fishermen. Only one of them had even heard of Hyrule and he had thought that it was a mythical far off place. Which was more than she had known about this Nurai country that apparently she was near. What had happened to Hyrule? Where was everyone else? Had she been the only person to be sent here or was Link or one of the sages somewhere? So many questions, no possible way she could think of to find answers.

"How did you actually find me?" she asked the fisherman steering the boat behind her, hoping that she could at least find out the answer to this one.

The fisherman smiled a little sheepishly as he answered. "I don't know if you've heard of it in Hyrule, but..." He paused for a while as if he didn't really want to go on. "We have children's tales of creatures in the sea. Silly really, but we were sure that we sure one of them last night. It's like a great flying whale, but it's supposed to be quite intelligent. Likes music as well, apparently."

He laughed as if it was absurd.

"We thought that we heard its song last night, and we couldn't resist following it. If we found it... But whatever the sound was that we were following it disappeared as soon as we came near you. Who knows, maybe it was showing us the way to you. Stupid, huh?"

"Not really," Zelda replied, thinking of the Zora's chosen deity. "I don't suppose you could help me but there is a chance that some people I know are also in Nura. Do you know how I could find them?"

The fisherman considered a while. "I guess the easiest way of getting the best information would be to contact the church. They know more about everything than anyone else does. What with their Xi bodyguards and..."

"The Xi?" Zelda interrupted.

"Sorry," the fisherman apologised, "I should have guessed that you might not have heard of them. The Xi are almost as old as Nurai itself. They're a group of trained warriors who having amazing skills. I've only personally ever seen one in action, but trust me you wouldn't want to get in a fight."

"The Xi," said another fisherman scornfully as he came up from below, "are one of the biggest wastes of money in this country. They send off all the strong young girls they can find to be trained in that big mountain of theirs, and then half of them run off to become hired assassins."

"Don't be too hard on them," the first fisherman argued. "Without the Xi we'd be in a lot of trouble. I mean, what would have happened if they hadn't stopped the Sadia?" He shivered as he said the last word.

The second fisherman shrugged. "The Kalen would have stopped them," he suggested.

The first snorted. "Kalen fan," he muttered. "Sorry, we seem to rather have got off subject. As I was saying, the church are probably the people you would want to talk to. If you want, I can arrange a meeting with one of them. What they can't find out isn't worth knowing. They should be able to held you."

"For a price," the second remarked.

Zelda nodded absent mindfully, thinking that she could pay them with some of her jewellery. She stared out at the horizon, and to her surprise found that she could now see land. Soon she would finally be able to get off this rocking boat and onto nice solid land.

Soon, she thought, I'll know whether anyone else is here. She tried not to think what she would do if noone was, for then she would truly be stuck here.

*-*

"Who is she?" asked Barlz, as he downed his tankard of beer.

The rest of the inhabitants following his pointing finger, and none of them could help but wonder who the strange girl was. As much as she tried to hide it, it was obvious that she was not the kind of girl who normally walked around in a pub. She was even trying to stop herself coughing at the thick atmosphere of smoke. Surely the girl hadn't just walked in the roughest pub in miles by mistake?

Zelda couldn't help wondering the same thing herself as she walked through the only dirt covered building. It wasn't that she didn't think this was the right place; on the contrary it looked like the perfect home for pirates. However, she was getting more and more uneasy about the mission that the man from the church had given her. Why couldn't he have just accepted her necklace? Instead, she had been assigned to some crazy undercover mission pretending to be a pirate. Her, a pirate? Worst of all, then she would have to double cross all her new comrades and get in touch with the church again. The only good part about the whole business was imagining the look on her brother's face if he heard about it.

She walked over to a particularly dark table in the corner and tried to remember the name she had been told to ask for. Lain Tarn, wasn't it? At last she took a deep breath and spoke to the man who was sitting there.

"You seen Lain recently?" she asked casually.

"Who hasn't?" he said bitterly.

Zelda was annoyed. If had a grudge against this Tarn then he might not help her. Still, she would get nowhere if she gave up this easily.

"Where is she now?" Zelda asked.

The man shrugged.

Zelda sighed, flicked him one of the coins she had been given, and then looked hard at him again. 

"Behind you," he said slowly.

Zelda turned around quickly, and saw the laughing face of a woman around 8 years older than her.

"What is it?" the woman asked.

Zelda was surprised. It was not a mocking voice, more friendly, as if she was encouraging her. 

"I...I wanted to join your group," she said.

Lain raised her eyebrows.

"Thomas - what have you done," she said, more to herself than anyone else, but then louder, "first, who are you?"

"I'm...I'm Zelda."

"Well, first you'd need a new name," Lain said, talking resignedly.

"What's wrong with my name?" Zelda said defensively.

"Well its not exactly very good for a pirate is it?" said Lain laughing, "No seriously, what about..."

"Hail," suggested someone on the right, which caused a great laugh from the crowd which had gathered around as the conversation went on, and even Thomas chuckled.

"Fine, Hail it is," said Zelda, which only made the crowd laugh even more.

"What is this?" said a cruel, sinister voice from behind.

Zelda turned around and saw a tall, dark man who was now being watched by everybody.

"I will prove you are no Hail," said the man, drawing a sword quickly.

"Leave her alone, Oliver," Lain said defensively.

Oliver laughed, and pushed forward his sword, but Zelda was not defenceless as she looked. When she had been young, Impa had taught her simple defence skills and her reactions were better than most. She quickly kicked his hand and his sword flew up into the air. Then, as a finishing touch she caught it and pushed it right against his chest.

There was silence in the pub.

Oliver growled, grabbed his sword back, and marched off angrily.

Lain looked at the girl who had just approached her again, and studied her earnestly.

"All right, Hail," said Lain softly, "you're in." 


	3. Three

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Author's note: Thanks again for all of you that you that review, it really helps motivate me to work (although from the month it took for me to write this one it might not look like it). Hopefully the fourth chapter should be up quicker (less to rewrite, I'm not going on holiday and school isn't starting). One thing that I would like some comments on is whether or not to put up at the beginning of chapters a summary of what has happened so far to make it less confusing (especially if I don't start writing quickly). Thanks for reading:

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**Three**

"Here she is," said the young girl enthusiastically. "The Pride. Lain's Pride, for its full name."  
The newly named Hail stared up at the massive wooden boat. Her knowledge of ships may have been limited to the books that she had read but even she could tell this book was at the upper end on the scale of impressiveness. 

Slightly nervous she put her left foot on the wooden gangplank that would take her from the safety of the land, and wondered what it would be like to captain such a vessel. Stop dreaming, she told herself firmly. All she had to do was get off at the nearest port, and find rep of the church to help her.

The deck of the ship seemed huge to her, as she looked across it, wondering if soon she would be watching the people around her attack another ship from it. It was all so overwhelming. The ship, the new land, the loss of everything she had known.

"This way," called the young pirate who was showing her around, as she made her way down some wooden steps. Dayla, was her name, or so she had told Hail. Hail, that new name was another thing to get used to.

"Here is where we'll be sleeping," said Dayla, motioning around the dingy room. Hail stared at horror at the old worn hammocks that she would have to sleep in. She picked a place to sleep that night and then went back on deck to help loading in the provisions.

The afternoon soon passed by, and eventually all the other pirates had made their way back on board. Most of them were singing or laughing loudly, almost certainly drunk. Then the ropes were untied, the land was waved goodbye to, and they were off into the great unknown.

*-*

Tai smiled as her mind finally cleared and she could let herself relax. Here, so high that could see for miles around her she had found a nice private place where she could stand and let the torrent from the great waterfall tumble over her. As the water fell it seemed to wash away her fears and give her new strength. The great cleansing waters of the river Akai were doing their job for her and she began to understand how they had become legendary. No wonder the villagers had recommended it to her. She could have stood there forever, but finally she made her way back down to the forest where she would sleep that night. She had no money to pay for an inn.

But in her now crystal clear mind there was one purpose, to find her king and make up to him all her years of treachery. And it was all too clear from Ganondorf's remarks who that was.

Link.

A Gerudo male is born every hundred years. The statement that had been one of many hammered into her head when she was a child. More times than she could remember she had asked her mother why there were no boys there, or why she could not go and play with them down the stream. She had not fitted in with the rest of the Gerudos, that had been clear from a young age. Desperate for companionship she had run out into the wasteland and had spent days wondering through it, determined to never stop or go back. 

Finally she had come to her oasis in the desert, the huge and all-powerful Spirit Temple that she had only heard of before. Running closer, skipping over the lizards as she went, she had slowly crossed the sunny desert plain. When she finally came to the entrance she had had no fear, and had not thought twice about crawling through the hole on her left. For the first time she saw the huge statue which dominated the centre room, and recognised it as the same as on the tapestries that sometimes were shown. 

When she left she tried to remember the path she had taken and by some fluke managed to find her way home. As Ganondorf grew in strength, her mother and friends had been ever more busy preparing for the ultimate climax when he would claim Hyrule and the 'power'. Tai had run off more and more to the Spirit Temple, the only place she could find sanctuary in. She could get there and back in under an hour and soon it became her favourite den.

She spent hours exploring the temple, staring at the strange writing on the walls and finding hidden passages. In one of those she had found her first bottle of the strange yellow dust and had taken it. She had vowed to carry it around forever until she could what it did. It had been one of her more adventurous activities when the bottle had smashed and the dust had been let lose. And when she had met Nura for the first time. 

When she had first seen the statue glow red she had run out of the room screaming, scared of what she had done. But later that night, unable to sleep she came back and saw what had happened. The first thing she had noticed was that all the monsters had gone which seemed impossible. Why had they run out just then? And then she had walked into the main room and saw the statue still glowing red. But she just managed to hold in her terror - even when the first message came.

Who are you?

"Tai," she had breathed in a whisper.

Slowly her friendship with the god grew, until she spoke to her everyday. But it was only after six years that she realised that she might be able to free her king Ganondorf from the prison Nura had spoke about. Slowly she built her customised spell and begged Nura everyday for the god's power. For the last ingredient she had to search the desert for weeks, knowing that the chances were that she would never find it. And when she had returned Nura had finally given in and Ganon had escaped. Only to destroy her homeland.

And all the time she had served the wrong king. Why she hadn't Ganondorf's age she never knew. Why hadn't someone else checked it? Why hadn't Nura told her? But she was willing to wager that seventeen years ago on Link's day of birth it had been Ganon's hundredth birthday. Yet why hadn't anyone noticed Link? He was a boy - not a common sight to a Gerudo! Surely someone should have noticed that. The only thing Tai could think of was that he had been born in the War for the Triforce. Many Gerudos had left the fortress then and Link's mother must have been one of them. She probably died later in the fighting.

She would keep on going until she found him, and then she would serve him in whatever way was necessary. But how could she ever make up for what she done? And how would she find him in a land as vast as this?

*-*

"A ship!"

The cry seemed deafening in the enclosed room, but its result was instantaneous. Immediately all of them dropping the cards they had been playing or the bottles they had been drinking and ran up onto the deck. Even Hail felt excited as she realised what was going to happen. She ran along with the others.

Up on deck Lain Tarn was staring out to sea, while two men quickly hauled up the famous red pirating flag. The ship seemed to jump from wave to wave as it cut its prey off. The other vessel was half the size of the Pride and was bolding flying a blue flag with a golden crescent in its centre.

Then the first bangs came as the cannons spat out their lethal flames at the crescent ship. Soon answering bangs came to them and Hail had to dive out the way as one came dangerously close. The excitement of the crowd around her seemed to seep into her and for the moment she did not even feel any sympathy for the crew of the other ship.

"We've got them!" said Tarn triumphantly, and Hail had to agree with her. 

The other ship suddenly did a desperate turn as it tried to escape, and Hail found herself swearing at the ship under her breath for not just giving themselves up. This is silly, she told herself for the umpteen time. I'm not Hail the pirate; I'm Zelda the princess. 

Princess of what? That nasty nagging side of her personality was making itself know again. It was useless to tell herself Hyrule. Standing here in the middle of an excited crowd of sweating, bad mouthed louts Hyrule seemed like just a dream.

Yet I am Zelda. To surrender that would be to betray Hyrule even if it didn't seem real. She had to remember why she was doing this - to find information out about the sages, Link, anybody.

While she had been arguing with herself the other boat had been quickly overrun, and now the Pride and the crescent were side by side. The other captain screamed surrender, but that didn't stop the pirates jumping onto his ship and killing several of his men.

Finally Tarn called a halt to the rampage. "Enough. Give us your goods and the rest of your men will be spared." 

"The ship." The distraught captain managed to force out the words. "What happens to my ship?"

Tarn shrugged her shoulders. "You may keep it. I have enough ships already."

Zelda gave a quick smile while noone was looking. At least the other innocents would be safe. She had had horrible visions of them all having to walk the plank. Gladly, she helped to tie the two ships together and carry across the furniture it had been transporting.

"Trouble!" The warning shout came from an officer looking out from Tarn's crow's nest, but soon everyone else could see the reason for it. Three huge galleons cutting across the horizon, each with an identical blue and golden crescent flag.

"It was a trap... it has to have been a trap." Thus was the muttering which went from pirate to pirate. And with good reason. The two ships were firmly connected together; to get away before the other three arrived was impossible.

Which means we're booked for a big fight, Zelda thought. She wasn't sure whether to be glad or scared.

*-*

Tai glared up at the tall mountain ahead as if its steepness was its own personal fault. Its foot was covered with dark forests and above that was not exactly welcoming rock. It wasn't going to be the easiest climb. She hadn't expected the Xi hideout to be. 

"The Xi," she remembered one small boy saying, "they're the best. I wish I could be one. It isn't fair that boys can't join."

"The Xi?" she had asked, which had led to a lot of curious looks.

"Yeah, the Xi." People would reply as if she hadn't heard them right. Finally when they actually believed that she hadn't even heard of them before they would normally back off seemingly expecting her to be some lunatic.

It had taken a drunk to explain it to her before she had finally found out a bit about what they were. "The Xi? You mean the women with the big swords? I once knew one of them. She looked nice... You know, I reckon the church couldn't last without them. Heck, they talk about as if the church knows the most but any fool can tell they only know what the Xi tells them."

And that was about all she got from that source. Finally, she had now found out that they were an ancient group of warriors who were the church's official bodyguard. Their fighting skills seemed to be legendary, and it was well known that the best way to get rid of someone was to hire a corrupt Xi as an assassin (of which, there were apparently many). 

It was probably stupid of her to think that she could meet up to their standards; but then again, she had to try. In total, she had found two ways of getting information about where Link was. Join the church or join the Xi. The church wouldn't have believed her story. She had taken her pick.

Still, she wasn't sure that this was the easiest choice. Enough grumbling, she had thought, and had started the long hike upwards. She had hired all the equipment she had needed a few miles away - ropes and a sword. She was pretty confident in her fighting skills, as she had learnt many of them from Nura herself. 

According to all the people she had spoken to this was the millennia old home of the Xi where their leaders lived and trained their new recruits. The traditional way to join the Xi was to be noticed by another Xi travelling the country. Hopefully they wouldn't object to her way. At first she had been worried that she would have to join for her lifetime or something like that, but now she had heard too many tales of gone bad Xi who she could always join up with.

Probably the most crucial thing would be making ground fast. She had no preconceptions that the Xi would not swiftly see her if they had not already. She would have been disappointed if they had. She quickly jogged when she could, and walked at a fast when she could not.

By the time she had cleared the forest she had seen noone else. Surely they wouldn't let a pure stranger just enter their base? 

"And who would you be?"

Her body seemed to uncoil as if it was a spring as it leapt around to see who had spoken. The challenger turned out to be an old woman, who by the laws of age should have been frail and weak. Instead the woman's body simply rippled with strength, and she stood upright and straight, her keen blue eyes examining Tai.

"I... came to join you," Tai said, the words sounding pathetic even as she said them. Surely she would need a better reason why she was worthy of joining?

"Why?"

Why indeed? To use your information resources and then get out as quickly as possible probably wouldn't have been the most tactful answer.

"I'm lost."

The woman nodded. "In the Xi you would indeed be found. But you may not like where you find yourself."

"I can cope. I will cope." If you want to impress someone sound confident, her mother had always told her.

"I have a daughter around your age." The woman looked at Tai again, this time gazing into her eyes as if they were the gateway to Tai's soul. "Tanya. She wanted to be an Xi too. But we're not just some group dedicated to philosophy. To join us, you will have to prove yourself physically.

"Follow the path behind me; there you will find a temple and someone who will meet you. From there you will know what to do, and I hope that I shall see you again. You are just so like her..."

Tai thanked the woman and then made her way down the path that had lay hidden behind her. A few moments later she turned back to see if the old woman was watching her, but could see nothing. It was as if she had faded into the bushes. 

*-*

Zelda flinched as she heard Tarn swear savagely. No one had ever sworn before out lead near her apart from a few anti-royal protestors. It was strange to hear someone swear as if it was a normal part of life. It sounded alien, ugly even. Yet she could not think of any other reaction that would fit now.

No, a voice inside her said. A captain should always remain calm. Stand upright, observe everything, and never show weakness. To show weakness was tactical suicide. Tarn is weak.

What was that voice that would not stay quiet in her? She stared out at the sea again at the three crescent ships that were still approaching. Then she looked up at Tarn. She was doing nothing. Zelda knew as she looked out at the crescent ships that this trap (for it had obviously been one) was designed to capture or even kill pirates. She had a feeling that they would not believe her story about being an undercover agent for the church. After all, she had no proof.

To stand here is stupid, the voice was speaking again. Die or do what you have to do. This is your chance to prove to everyone that you're not just a figurehead monarch. You can survive if you want to.

Zelda hesitated and then let her body fall into what seemed like a natural series of actions. "Abandon the sailors on the other ship," she told Tarn. "And cut the ropes connecting us." 

Her words seemed to shake Lain out of her trance, who started to order some men to do what her pirate Hail had said. Then Hail quickly asked Dayla to find ten people who could swim who had swords and to get them to meet up with her.

"If you say so," said Dayla. "The captain seemed to trust your judgement."

Hail ran back down below decks and fetched a sword of her own. When she came back she found ten strong men and women waiting for her. She nodded at them, and then told the men at the cannons to fire their weapons. As the smoke threatened to block out sight, while the noise was deafening she and her swimmers slipped down into the water.

The three ships finally had come close enough to be in weapon range. The flags they were flying had a famously simple message: Surrender or you will be destroyed. For a moment an observer might have thought that the Pride was going to ignore the warning and continue to batter the other ship. But then, gradually all her weapons stopped their attacks and the ship was silent. It looked defeated; like a dead animal floating in the water.

The captain of one of the newcomers shouted out commands to the other two ships until the Pride was surrounded. All the pirates on board dropped their weapons and raised their hands. They knew when the show was over.

Unfortunately for the crescent ships, the pirates in the water didn't. A shout rang out from behind the Pride, which was followed by three answering shouts in the water behind each of the new crescent ships. The sailors staring down over the sides of their ships saw three pirates at each ship. Furiously these pirates smashed their sword through the now seemingly thin under water wood which separated the air and the water. Then their blades started carving through the old hulls; their result being three large breaches which the water eagerly rushed into.

Men and women who spend their lives on such a fragile environment as a wooden ship have very similar nightmares. Fire, for example, on a ship is about the worst nightmare of all. But having your home being destroyed as it quickly sunk into the water near enemy boats was almost as bad. Terrified as they were, the sailors did not think of trying to take over the Pride. Instead, as if they were one mass, they leapt into the water, trying to swim away from the death trap that had been so secure a moment before. Even those that could not swim clutched onto neighbours that could; which resulted in both victims being dragged down.

Some of them had the presence of mind to look for the pirates who had got them into this situation. But the saboteurs had long ago swum back to the Pride and were now watching the three new crescents sink.

"Sail us out of here before they try to repeat our trick," urged Hail to her captain, but Tarn did not make a sign.

"I am the captain here." Her voice was cold. "We have not captured the other ship yet. I do not need you to order me around."

"Let them have it to get back to land on." Hail could not believe that Tarn was being so stupid. "There was probably nothing valuable on it anyway."

"We will not be frightened by the church's pathetic navy!"

Zelda was taken back by that. Those ships had been church ships? Maybe they would have spared after all and she would not have had to act the pirate. Somehow, she did not like sinking into her Hail form. It made her feel strange, made her for a while forget her past and everything she was. To be honest, Hail scared her.

"What... I told you not to take us away from here." Tarn stared at some pirates who had taken it upon themselves to put up the sails and start getting away before any of the angry church sailors could get near.

"You will obey your captain!" Tarn was almost hysterical now.

"Why should we when she only gives stupid orders?" That was Dayla.

Staying was out of the question now. Already the ship was streaking away.

"Say that again and I'll charge you with mutiny," said Tarn viciously.

"Then you'll have to charge me as well," said a man Zelda did not. He stepped out besides Dayla who had had walked to the front of the crowd. Almost unconsciously Zelda followed him.

"Very well, you three. Hail, Dayla and Carn will forever be known as traitors." Tarn sounded confident now.

At the mention of Hail's name all the pirates began muttering. Zelda wasn't the only one who had noticed Tarn's lack of action. Slowly others began to step forward towards Dayla and Hail as they realised how close they had become to capture. 

When more than half of them had stepped forward Lain Tarn knew that she was beaten. "Very well," she told the crowd, "it seems that Dayla will be your new captain."

"Not me," said Dayla, "Hail will be the captain."

That night as Zelda lay down onto the covers she knew that the next morning Zelda, Hyrule, her undercover church mission and everything else would have been forgotten. Only this new strange voice would remain. Only Hail would be there.

*-*

The forest path that she had been following for the last hour finally emerged into a clearing. Not a particularly big one, especially to Tai who was used to the vastness of the desert, but at least ten metres across. As she could see no corresponding path lying outward she sat down on the grass and just let herself relax.

The footstep behind her was almost non existent in noise, but it was loud enough for her to hear. In a single movement, she jumped up and spun around to see the newcomer. In another instant her sword was out in front of her.

A figure dressed completely in black awaited her, the only sign of humanity in it being two blue eyes staring out of the only holes in the suit. Somehow Tai could tell that there was a leering smile hidden behind that black mask, whose hands were carrying their own sword to confront hers.

She swung her own sword down in a fierce arc that should have sent black's sword flying from his hands. Instead he somehow managed to have side-step, drop down onto his back with his hands supporting him on the ground and then use his feet in a sweeping motion which easily tripped Tai over. Then his hands easily swept him up onto his feet again and his own sword was flying down at her sprawling body.

You're not the only one who can do tripping tricks, she thought angrily. She used her own hands to do a sidewise roll at his feet. He calmly jumped over her and then pivoted around on one foot to meet her as she got up.

For a few moments they forgot the acrobatic tricks while their swords crashed and parried, and then she swung her foot around in a savage kick. As she hoped he would, his spare hand caught her foot. Using her other foot as a kind of spring she shoved forward with her caught foot. He was sent flying back, but managed to turn it into a roll and was soon on his feet again.

The two of them stared at each other's eyes, both of them slightly unsure about what would come next. Then they were charging, sprinting at each other, and both of their legs were swung up in new kicks. Like they were fencing swords they connected, and not without some pain.

Tai hesitated as her leg screamed with hurt, and black took the opportunity to swing his other leg round and send her flying to the floor. For a moment Tai considered getting up, but she knew that she was beaten. Her whole body just wanted to relax. Her head had hit the floor hard, and everything seemed harder to concentrate on. Finally she let herself sink into that delicious blackness...

When she regained consciousness, she lay still for a while and then finally opened her eyes. Above was a tall young man (still dressed in black from the neck down) with orange - golden hair and smiling blue eyes.

"You passed," he said simply.

*-*

_Ganondorf was laughing._

Laughing as he stood in front of that so desirable light, his shadow nearly blocking out the intruder of this deep darkness. And he knew that if only he could get past Ganondorf and through the gap then he could get out of this horrible place. He hated Ganondorf. Ganondorf was trapping him, and laughing, laughing on and on... 

Now Ganondorf was getting closer... That laugh seemingly ripping his brain into shreds. He screamed, screamed as loud as he could, willing it to block out that horrible, horrible laugh....

His eyes jolted open to see 2 anxious eyes staring down from above at him. His gaze wondered up to the nice blue sky above and his legs finally remembered to tell him about the warm water that was surrounding him. 

"You'll be alright," said the kind voice that belonged to the anxious eyes.

Yes, he thought as he stared around at the sea and beach he was lying on, I'll be alright.

Because Link knew that at last; he was awake.


	4. Four

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Author's note: Any people who've been following this so far (Thanks!) might notice that this chapter is a good deal shorter than the others. Am I just being lazy? No, (well maybe a little) it seems to me that most people prefer their stories in short segments. Although I normally find in other people's fanfics that the longer the story is the better the writing normally is, I actually have to make much more of an effort to read something that long then a few kb story. Therefore I'm splitting the rest of the originally planned 12 chapters in 2.

Special thanks go to John Sheffield, who I forgot to mention in the last chapter. He has been reading through the first draft before this goes up and generally motivating me. Go and read his The Legend of Zelda : The Continuing Saga now! (Well, maybe you might want to read this first).

I hate to say this, but comments never hurt...

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**Four**

Bren smiled as the new girl opened her eyes. Mentally he tried to imagine what she would be like to teach. Her face may look nice and peaceful now but he could remember how fierce it had been when he had been fighting it. Probably just wanted training to be an assassin. Stop being so cynical, he told himself. She looked a nice enough apprentice. 

The girl just looked dazed for a moment, and she looked around her in wonder at the tranquil garden they were in.

"How...did I get here?" she asked warily.

Bren shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't think anyone but you is quite sure of that. Why did you want to be here?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again. She thought for a few moments, and then asked, "Where am I?"

"In the mid-garden. It's a nice place where we normally go to relax."

The girl again looked confused for a moment, and then asked again, "Where am I?"

Bren smiled. She'd soon know that she had done it. She had joined the elite in the Xi headquarters, and knowing that was not always a good thing. Some people who could have been great became overconfident. Still, he had to tell her, and so he did.

When she knew, the girl looked more alert, and she simply asked, "Why?"

"Because one of our guards took a liking to you. But that is all in the past; lets concentrate on the future. What's your name?"

"When do we start?" she said, still not giving out information.

Keen was his latest apprentice. Was she his fifth or sixth? Some of the others had seemed like blank personalities, but he had a feeling that she would not be the same. She might be difficult, especially before her K'Tan, but she would probably be fun.

He had been only 14 when he had been trained to be an Xi master, a trainer itself of the normal Xi. Led by another 'Xi master' he had been taught the ways of the Xi until he passed all the tests (well, fairly) easily. 

"First," he said quietly to the girl, "you'll need a room and fresh clothes. Then the lessons will start."

The girl nodded and prepared to follow him. Bren was impressed by her relative lack of curiosity compared to the others.

"Just one thing," he asked, "your name?"

She looked at him again quietly for a few moments and he found himself saying, "Bren."

"Tai"

It was a brief introduction.

*-*

_Link._

Malon? What was Malon doing here? Then again - where was here?

Quiet, I can not stay long. They let me stay only until you are awakened.

What is going on?

The sages, Link, the sages. Not Zelda, you hear? The sages.

If you say so Malon. But who did this to you and me?

Fate. I've got to go now... The sages... 

"So our monster from the sea has awakened?"

The first thing that Link noticed was that he was no longer lying in the quiet beach waters. Instead he was lying in some old run down room. Above his bed was a fairly tall brown haired man who was wearing a simple grey robe. For the moment Link did not notice the woven crescents on the man's shoulders.

"What country is this?" Link asked.

"What country are you expecting?" The man replied cryptically. 

Link shook his head slowly. "My geography isn't good. I can't remember which countries are by the sea."

"Try Nurai."

"Nurai? I didn't think my geography was that bad. I'm sorry but I've never even heard of it. Where is it near?"

This remark bought a great big smile to the man's face. "Perfect. But I mustn't get too excited too soon. First a little test. Where do you come from, stranger?"

"I do have a name," said Link, a bit annoyed. "I presume you do to. If I'm going to be tested can I at least know who by?"

"Nala, at your service. And you?"

"Link. Link of Hyrule, heard of it?"

"All my life," said Nala, the smile still spreading. "So, you come from the home of the Triforce, right? What were the Triforces again?"

"Wisdom, courage and power. Your reason for wanting to know would be?"

"To prove that you're not some fake trying to take advantage of a possibly leaked prophecy." Nala was serious now.

"This prophecy?"

"And in the time before the test shall come; shall come the guardian from the sea and his Hail. They who rule in fear the sea will be led by she, Hail and she will bring death and then life and then death," quoted Nala. "The Enlightenment in Text, verse 57a and the more famous (and not barred knowledge to anyone outside the church) 57."

"Lost me completely," Link admitted.

"Alright, I'll try and explain our whole culture to you as shortly as possible. I believe in Hyrule you have some of the gerudo people?"

Link nodded.

"And you have heard that their god is called Nura? Good, then let it be known that this is the land that she created. She came to us in a time called the Enlightenment and gave us the 100 prophecies. These told of three great dark times when Nuran people would be in peril, which would be mixed with three great golden ages. Two of the dark times have passed. The third is still to come.

"This third dark time is commonly known as the Distile. A stupid name really, as it doesn't express truly the fear that it can bring in our people. At the Distile this world will end. The church is always on the look out for signs that the Distile is coming. Unfortunately, the fact that there will be a fearsome pirate queen called Hail is common knowledge and there have been many fakes. That is why we keep certain prophecies silent so we can know the truth for ourselves."

"Alright... Slow down," said Link. "This is some other reality? I've had that before; I can cope with it. Is there a Hail doing the rounds now?"

Nala nodded.

"Strange... The other land I went to thought that they were doomed too; but we managed to save them. Is there really no help for this land?"

Nala started to look happier at that. "The one thing that the prophecies don't talk about is times. There is a good chance we can delay or even lengthen the Distile a good deal."

"So I was dragged here to help you with your struggle?" Link asked.

"Do you remember how you moved from Hyrule to here?" 

"No," Link admitted. "I was asleep, and then I awakened here. I had a strange dream though. One of my friends told me to start looking for the sages."

"I have made it my life's work to study the prophecies and the alternative Hyrule reality, but I do not know these sages. Who are they? They sound important."

"You're here!"

The door suddenly crashed open. In swept what seemed like a blur in the air. Then the air seemed to almost melt into a visible figure. Another man, this time with blonde hair and wearing a red robe. On it was a distinct crescent with a line shooting straight through it.

Nala immediately drew a sword from his waist level. "I had feared one of the Kalen blasphemers would find us."

The Kalen laughed. "Do not fool yourself into thinking I want to attack him, Chi'Lah loving fool."

"What do you want then?" said Link, slightly curious. He was not naive enough to only trust the first person he met.

The Kalen smiled and walked past a glaring Nala. "Just take this broach and remember that the Kalen are always your friends. Please believe me when I say that I have been outcast by my own people to tell you this. We are your friends. I..."

"Is dead," said Nala, without a glint of remorse, as he drew his sword back out where he had stuck it through the Kalen's body.

Link hoped that while Nala removed the body he did not notice Link looking at the metal broach that had been offered; now lying on the floor. Or that he picked it up...

*-*

Exercises, exercises, exercises.

Tai's life consisted of the hated things now. She woke up, washed in the stream and then did exercises. She had a few bites of bread for lunch and then did exercises. She had a few mores bite for supper, went to bed, then woke up early in the morning to do night time exercises.

She was sure that all these practises at skills would make her extra fit and improve her fighting technique; unfortunately they might kill her in the process. She had been here for a month now, and apart from some times when Bren had just talked to her about the Xi and their ways all she had done was juggling balls, strength building up techniques or various other types of exercises. Perhaps the worst thing was when she was about to faint from exhaustion yet she could see Bren calmly watching her at the side; doing no work whatsoever. Actually, the worst thing now she came to think of it, was when she complained and Bren proceeded to do the exercise quickly without breaking a sweat. 

Still, Bren said that soon she would be allowed to go on field training. He would accompany her while she did some guard work for the church somewhere. Only last week one trainee Xi was sent to the capital to help defend the Nurai Cathedral.

The one good thing about all this was that she completely forgotten about her guilt and wanting to find Link. Instead, she really didn't care at the moment. Maybe in the future the physical torture would be let up enough for her to be able to feel again.

Still, it was no good thinking. She had to finish this exercise...

*-*

"Any other prophecies I should know about?"

Nala considered Link's words for a moment. "A few. Mostly earthquakes, terrible storms and evils being released. And one other I really should check on now..."

To Link's surprise Nala proceeded to kneel down in front of him, close his eyes, and start muttering fervently. For what seemed like minutes this ceremony went on until finally Nala opened his eyes again. This time to his horror, Link saw what looked like tears in them.

"Nura's gone," Nala said shakily. "The other prophecy has come true. We've lost contact with her greatness herself. We have to do something quickly and find those sages."

"Hey, don't worry, I've saved two lands before," half-joked Link.

Nura looked up at him with new hope in his eyes.

"Well, two out of three." 


	5. Five

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Author's note: Another short chapter (although not as short as it was supposed to be). Thanks for reviews and keep them coming! Anyway, none of you actually mentioned that you wanted a summary of the story so far, but because I think this is going to get confusing, I'm going to put one in anyway. Note that it only talks about story detail that is relevant for this chapter and is no substitute for reading the previous chapters. 

**Story so far:-**

**Tai**, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura **and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda **awakes in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the home land of the gerudos.

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has been lying for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the **Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren**.

Zelda is told that before the Nuran church will help her find other survivors from Hyrule she must do an undercover mission for them, and join up in **Lain Tarn**'s crew as a pirate. She is given the new name of **Hail** as a joke, as Hail is the name of a mythical pirate queen who will come before the end of the world. However, after she saves the ship, the crew starts a mutiny and makes her captain. She finds that she can no longer remember about Zelda or anything that happened before she was Hail...

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**Five**

The fresh sea water that Hail splashed over her face seemed to be the one thing that could drag away the last vestiges of sleep and pull her into each new day. A bucket was now left outside her cabin every day for her to wash her face in. Just the first part of her simple regimented day.

But it was essential for her to be awake. Her memories may be slowly fading away but Hail needed all her wits about her. The ship may have chosen her as captain, but Tarn still kept some sway over the rest of the crew. A less confident person might have killed the old captain, but Hail was a firm believer in keeping her enemies close.

"Hail..." said Lain Tarn's voice, coming quietly from behind her.

Hail turned around, looked at her, and then asked softly "What is it?"

"A new course?" Lain asked, still unsure of her new role as a second-in-command. "You probably don't need telling this, but... The words spread that we're here and the other ships will avoid this part of the sea."

Hail looked at the water for a moment, considered, and then replied, "Rig our flag on the other galleon and assign twelve people to sail it up and around the North Trades."

The new galleon had been the result of one of Hail's recent naval victories.

"Twelve people?" Lain asked, even less sure. "Even our people won't be able to attack any ships with just twelve."

"They do not need to attack anything," Hail explained slowly, "just convince enough people that we're there so they believe it."

Lain began to catch on, "And then they quickly send their important shipments through here before 'we' get back?"

"Exactly."

"Understood," Lain saluted, before turning around and walking away.

*-*

Over all Bren was fairly pleased with his new apprentice. Her sword skills were fairly good, her acrobatics impressive and she was not short of courage either. But these would be expected from a potential Xi. What was more impressive was the amazing amount of general knowledge she had. In some of his conversations with her she had quoted from several famous foreign texts and even knew some simple alchemy. 

The leaders of the Xi had decided that she would be best suited to do the majority of her training while on guard work, and Bren had to agree. He sensed that she was getting bored with practising, and actually wanted to try out some of her skills. But first she would have to go through the first two tests that all Xis and Xi Masters had to pass.

And now it was time for her first, her K'Tan. The origin of the phrase was lost back ago in the ancient times, but its use was enough to bring bad memories in most Xis. Bren still didn't like to remember his own.

Still, it had to be done, and so he walked up to her room to fetch her. Tai was standing at a window, staring out at the blue sky. Bren walked up to her.

"They're ready," he told he.

"I'm not sure I..." Tai started.

"It is the only way," interrupted Bren, his voice the hardest it had ever been with her.

Tai nodded and placed her new sword in the black sheath she had been given. The Master Sword had had to be given in to the Xi like the rest of her personal possessions, to be given back when she had finished her training. She was hungry, but she felt too nervous to eat anything at the moment. What if the Xi discovered her real reason for joining them? Then, her better self told her, they would also learn that the Xi had become more important than any supposed king could ever be to her. For the first time, she felt like she belonged somewhere.

"I'm coming," she at last replied, and she crossed the room to the door to prove it.

Bren nodded and led her out of the room and down a corridor. As they walked Bren was unusually quite, which was strange for him. In the few months that Tai had known him he had always tried to teach something as they walked somewhere, not wanting to waste a minute of her training. Bren at last stopped outside of one of the few wooden doors in the mountain. "In here," he told her.

She waited for a moment gathering her courage and then walked up to and opened the door. Why was she so scared of it? Was it just because of how scared Bren had been of it? Was she scared that she'd meet Ganon again? At the moment she didn't know. But she meant to find out.

Inside she found a single marble ball attached to a stone pillar. She closed the door behind her and walked up to the stone sphere. Bren's simple instructions echoed through her brain.

"Place your hands on the ball and repeat the chant."

She waited for a moment and then placed her hands on the ball. She was so nervous that for a few moments she desperately tried to remember the chant.

"I...I say that I am ready, and..." she said, at last.

The marble ball slowly glowed red and she felt her hands get warmer and warmer. She jumped as the pain shot through her body. But she was happy. Was this it? She could stand pain. 

And then it all changed.

From being a slightly scared student holding a marble ball, in an old stone room she went to something...different.

The walls stretched and blurred up and down so much that it hurt her eyes to look at it; the stone floor she had been standing on had disappeared and she was falling through endless space. The whole room in an instant had become a brown mess of colour.

For a second she was floating in this strange mixed dimension and then the colours and walls snapped back to focus.

But she was no longer standing in the stone room. She was crouching on old cloth covered by a thin layer of sand, in a blue tent. Around her ten Gerudo women were crowding over a table in the centre of the tent, examining something. And towering over them was Ganondorf.

Tai recognised the scene; she was in the Gerudo planning tent from seven years back.

"H-hello," she stuttered nervously.

No one took any notice.

"HELLO!" she screamed.

No one even turned round.

She walked up to a woman straight in front of her who she recognised from her childhood and tapped her on the shoulder. The woman didn't move an inch. She pushed the woman's back hard, but she couldn't move her. What was this place? 

She ran across the cloth to the entrance of the tent and pushed the opening flap out of the way. Outside was a blue swirling mist that she could see nothing in. And then suddenly a part of it brightened for a moment and she could see a small frightened child. The area brightened again and she saw that it was a girl of around ten years. But... she had known everyone in the hideout, hadn't she? The fog brightened once more, and she knew.

It was herself.

She ran out into the fog, trying to find the place where the younger Tai had been. All she found was the mist. She ran, and ran trying to get as far as she could from the tent. But when she turned back, it was always ten or so metres away. She remembered this time perfectly now.

Ganondorf had been giving his orders for what would become the 'Imprisoning War'. The orders had proved to be useless as he had not come out of the Golden Land for years, but Tai could still remember the fear she had felt on these long ago mornings. She had known that a war was going to start, and horrified she had sat outside, staring at the tent, knowing that her mother was inside planning a war.

Her mother...

She sprinted back to the tent, desperate to see her mother again. And then...

FLASH

It was like she was floating high in the sky, as images came pouring into her mind, quickly skipping between one and another.

She was above a Gerudo army, the women charging deep black horses across the plains of Hyrule.

FLASH

A nervous Hylinian army waiting. She saw one biting his lip, and another was quickly saying the three prayers of the Triforce. Somewhere behind her, a child was weeping.

FLASH

She was back in the tent again and Ganondorf's deep voice shouted out the orders for the attack.

FLASH

The Gerudo women charged up to the Hylinian army, their swords ready.

FLASH

She was seeing from her mother's point of view, she saw her mother's sword cutting through Hylinian's body.

FLASH

A scream rose up, as a fiery arrow burnt the Triforce banner to cinders.

FLASH

Her mother cut through a body.

FLASH

And another...

FLASH

The last was little more than fifteen.

FLASH

The scene changed. There was silence except for one voice droning on. She was in Kakariko village.

"No... how could they?" screamed one woman.

"My child..." said another quietly. "He was only sixteen..."

FLASH

...cut....more than fifteen....

FLASH

She was back at the funeral in Kakariko village. The villagers were starting to sing a song praising Din for their lives, and her greatness.

"Why?" said yet another woman, "Why sing happy songs now?"

"Don't worry," said her husband, "I'll get our revenge."

FLASH

The husband's limp body fell dead onto the newly fallen snow.

Her mother laughed at him.

FLASH

It was summer again, and her mother was in the main chamber of Spirit Temple. Ganondorf walked over to her and laid a medal over her head.

"Well done," he said, "you have done the best of anyone."

"I am glad to do so for you," she heard her mother say.

FLASH

...fell dead...

FLASH

She could see a young her again, this time talking to a friend.

"Your mothers the best," said her friend.

"I know," she had said proudly, "I want to be just like her."

FLASH

Another new face fell to the floor dead.

And then she could she who had killed him.

She had. 

"No...." screamed Tai, at last. "It wasn't like that."

She broke down, and began to cry bitterly.

"I wasn't like that.... My mother is not a killer!"

The stone hall was deaf to her screams.

She breathed deeply, and waited, and then it came.

More images flooded back into her head... Hyrule Castle Town being burnt down and the occupants who had not left slaughtered...the killing of the town people who had refused to be moved...

And yet something was different this time. She hadn't killed these people. The stone could feed these images into her head but it was still her head. These people weren't really dying now. And she couldn't change time. And so she turned off her emotions.

And the images stopped.

And the door swung open again, and Bren was waiting outside. She ran to him, and couldn't stop herself from crying again. For an instant, she had been an Xi. She had been able to transcend everything, to focus on nothing but the job at hand. And now she had lost the calmness of mind again. But she knew that she could do it. And she knew that she would do it again.

*-*

The sleek galleon's movement finally stopped as it docked in the harbour. All around it people were staring in wonder. Officially, this ship was the 'Merchant's Dream', a registered antiques trader. But no one at this port was fooled. They all knew that the real name of the ship was the 'Lain's Pride'. And they all knew about its new captain.

They did not have long to wait before seeing her. Soon, a woman who could not have been more than 20 and with blonde hair that had strange red patches appearing all over it, stepped down the gangplank.

"Where is the one called Dizkre?" Hail asked.

A man appeared from out of the shadows of a particularly shady pub. "I can lead you to him," the man offered.

With Dayla and Tarn following her Hail went along after the man. The man finally bought them into a dinghy alley, before drawing a knife.

"My son was on one of those ships you sunk."

The statement hung in the air, the threat obvious behind it.

"Your poor wife." Hail stared at the man for a moment. "She's about to lose her husband as well."

The man ignored her. "Why can't you just work honestly like other people?"

"I'm bored now." Hail's hand struck out, and a knife was with it. The man's throat was cut before he had a time to react.

Dayla swallowed hard, but Tarn just raised an eyebrow.

"I believe you are looking for me."

The three pirates turned to see an old man walking up to them. "Yes," Hail admitted. "Dayla tells me that your family has passed down through the generations something for me."

"My father was killed by a fake Hail and his father before that." Dizkre looked at her hard. "You'll excuse me if I wish for some proof of your authenticity." 

He held up to them a black box, upon which was carved a strange symbol that Hail didn't recognise. It was made up of three triangles, one standing on the other two. Curiosity overwhelming her, Hail touched the marble the box was made out of. Instantly, there was a click and the lid of the box opened. Inside were two clumps of white rock.

"Calalite!" breathed Tarn.

"You can explain later." Hail nodded at the man, closed the box, and walked off again. The other two quickly followed her.

"I say," started Dayla," "his whole family for generations has been working up to this. Don't you think that we could give him a little time?"

Hail stopped suddenly and looked at Dayla. "Your whole world has been waiting for me. And now that I'm here, they're not going to want to miss one minute of it."

The two of them walked on, and did not notice that Tarn had not followed. Lain made her way back to the alley, where she found another man crying besides the father Hail had ruthlessly killed.

"Who did this to him?" said the crying man, as he looked up at Tarn.

"Hail did," Tarn said quietly.

"There must be something I can do..."

"Black." Tarn left it at that, and as she hurried to catch up with Hail and Dayla she couldn't help smiling. It was all coming gloriously together. Hail was going to get a nice big surprise soon. Oh, a big surprise indeed...


	6. Six

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Author's note: Well - its been a long time since I posted the last chapter. As it has been such a long time, more than ever, this is going to need a summary. If you've haven't read any other chapters I'd recommend reading them first. Chapter Seven coming (fairly) soon. Note that it only talks about story detail that is relevant for this chapter. 

**Story so far: -**

**Tai**, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, Zelda and Link awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the **Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren**. To graduate from her Xi training she must complete two tasks. The first she manages to complete.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala**. However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen** (a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called **Hail** are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile**. The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala set off to Nurai's capital **Asreal**...

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**Six**

I am stronger, she always told herself to keep morale up.

The stick shot out of the wall and for a moment looked like it was going to split Tai's leg in half. But her instincts didn't fail her and she easily swung her leg over it. Another stick threatened her head and so she was forced to dive downwards only to have to do a flip in the air to avoid another one from the bottom of the wall.

"Its just a physical thing," explained Bren when referring to this second test. This second test which decided whether she could join the only group that had ever truly accepted her.

The next section of corridor that beckoned also had ominous holes in the walls. More sticks? But she could handle them - she knew it. She was strong and nothing could stop her.

Sure enough more things shot towards her as she ran down the corridor. But this time it was metal rods that threatened to reduce her to crawling. She jumped, twisted in the air and ducked almost at the same time. Then she used her hands on the ground to vault three metal spikes that formed a wall. Two more that she could simply hurdle and that particular trap was done.

The sweat pouring down her face, her limbs exhausted, and her clothes torn Tai finally stopped. She had no idea how long she had been running, but she knew that she needed a rest right now. She lay down right where she was and closed her eyes. For a minute or two she breathed in and out, concentrating on the bliss that was nothing.

The maze that formed the second Xi task was extremely cold, and she found herself longing for her warm bed in her room. Her brain refused to give up its alert state even though she knew that she never been more tired in her live before.

She was just about to carry on when the voice came to her ears. It was a male voice, that was a long way away, but at this distance she could not make out any more than an eerie muttering. She got up and walked down the corridor following a side turning to the right. For a few minutes she carried on along yet another side passage until she realised that she was getting further away from the voice.

Finally she found a huge wooden door from where the voice was coming from, yet strangely she could still not make out a syllable.

"Help!"

The unexpected clearly shouted word would have made Tai jump a few months ago. It was the same voice, just much louder and clear. 

"Open the door!"

Who was it? Tai had no idea, but she couldn't help expecting that it was a trap. She had avoided many of them in the last few hours, but none of them had contained anything that was alive. Curiosity got the better of her (although she hoped that Bren never found out) and she stretched out her hand to the door. When it opened she walked straight into an at first glance large empty room. There was a small hole near the top of one wall, and the air around it seemed to have a strange blue tinge.

It was from this the small bird which was crawling towards Tai must have come from. The creature looked it should have died years ago with its one remaining eye and most of its feathers fallen out.

The bird came close enough until it was touching her foot, and then flopped to the ground. It was dead. Her head suddenly seemed to explode with pain and she found herself backing out of the room. Next her legs were sprinting down the corridor, seemingly with all tiredness forgotten. The headache died down and finally the alertness in her mind went and she was free to rest. Yet her feet continued to lead themselves as she ran though corridor after corridor.

And then to her astonishment, she could see a huge gateway to the blue sky. She was at the end.

*-*

It was only when they first sighted the great city that Nala broke out of his silence.

"There she is," he almost breathed, "Asreal."

It was a month since Link had awakened. After he had recovered enough to travel Nala had taken him to several villages trying to contact other members of the Nuran church. None of them had been able to talk to Nura, and all of them were panicking. As no explanation had come from Asreal, the capital of Nurai, Nala had decided to go to them instead. The only message that had come through from the church's capital was that they were to keep the secret from the peasants. Riots from frantic people would help nobody.

Besides, the leaders would need to know about Link and so after hiring two sturdy horses they had set off on their journey to Asreal. As the weeks had gone by, Link had started to become worried. _When were they going to start looking for the sages? _he wondered, and a few times he even asked Nala.

"When we know more," Nala always said, and Link could never get more out of him before he would change the subject.

And now, finally, Link could see the famous city. Or rather, he should be able to. Instead all he could make out was a glint of light. According to Nala that was the light reflecting off the great spire of the Glass Temple, the headquarters of Nurai's religion.

Link wondered idly if any of the Kalen that Nala seemed to hate so much lived here. He still would look at the strange broach that the Kalen had given to him. But he always did that when Nala was not around. 

It was made out a strange shiny metal, and on it was depicted the crescent that seemed to be the main religious symbol of this community. Strikingly, the crescent seemed to be in the process of being shattered by a beam of light coming from a sun in the corner of the design. Link guessed that the picture must be incredibly sacrilegious. So far he had seen no other sign similar to the one on the broach - or even heard anyone mention the Kalen. Which made finding out about them harder than ever.

As they made their way down the heavily eroded dust path that formed the main road to the city Nala began to describe his home city. "The Glass Temple is in the central square and is surrounded by mostly the church buildings that run the country. If you're ever lost just head towards the spire - its kind of impossible not to be able to see it. Or just ask for D'Ran square; that's also another name for the Glass Temple by the way. Most normal people just use glass, but some reckon that the name doesn't sound respectable enough so they call it D'Ran. The D'Ran is actually a huge knife inside it hung from the ceiling. In our earlier days the D'Ran used to be used for ritual sacrifices."

That bit of Nala's babbling made Link look round at him. 

"Yes..." Nala actually looked kind of embarrassed. "Some factions in our society believed that sacrifices were a right interpretation of the teachings at the Enlightenment."

Another curious look from Link - but this time not from shock.

Nala quickly explained. "The time when Nura descended among us and told us her teachings - remember? I'm sure I've told you about it. Anyway, nowadays every person's death is taken as their own personal sacrifice to her and so the D'Ran knife does not have to be used any more. Still, we hang it above us in there to remind us that at any time she still may require a sacrifice from us."

Link nodded to show he understood. He could see Asreal pretty clearly now - a gigantic labyrinth of a capital fitting for this country's immense size. For the small boy who had spent his life living in a forest and then only in a country that was a few square kilometres this country was almost overwhelming. For Hyrule's one mountain range Nurai had several. Its forest was around ten times the size and while it did not contain any lakes a seemingly endless ocean surrounded it. The Glass (or D'Ran as Nala had called it) Temple clearly stood in the middle of it - it pretty much looking like its name sounded. The huge (it must be several times greater than the Temple of Time) cathedral made almost all out of glass contrasted against the other various stones and wood buildings that were.

"Quite a sight isn't it?" said a guard standing by main gate into the city, obviously recognising the signs of a first time visitor.

"Its amazing," agreed Link as Nala showed his identification documents to another guard. 

Then they were let through and down the short path into the city. They dismounted, placed their horses in the city's stables and then slowly made their way on foot through the narrow streets of Asreal.

*-*

The talk in the old Inn's bar where they were to stay the night was about one thing and one thing only.

Hail.

"They say," said one drunk man, "that the church's latest shipment of money was captured by Nura the other day."

"Impossible," broke in Nala, "that shipment was sent in an area which Hail had just vacated."

"Well I'm sorry," mocked the drunkard, "maybe she leaves mirror images wherever she goes. After all she is supposed to have tremendous power..."

"She is not the real Hail!" shouted Nala, quite out of place. He cooled down enough to lie, "If she was Nura she would have been captured."

"Well... maybe she was," the drunkard continued only really to annoy Nala, "after all, who knows how much the church lies to us these days. We could have been invaded and they wouldn't have told us."

Link realising that Nala couldn't be restrained for another second, pulled him upstairs, waited while he cooled down, and then rejoined the bar. He was curious about Hail, the mysterious pirate who he had heard so many rumours about in the last few months.

"Apparently," another man was saying, "Hail's hair was originally blonde but has been apparently gradually turning red."

"What? They're dying it?" asked the drunken man. "Nice touch doing it in stages."

The second man raised his eyes to the ceiling briefly in despair and then turned around and asked Link, "What do you think of her?"

"I don't know. Why don't they stop her?"

The laughter from the drunkard caused most of his drink to spill out from his mouth onto the table, but a girl quickly cleaned up with a cloth while the man ordered another drink.

"Yeah right!" he said. "How many times do you reckon they've tried? I've heard at least ten."

"Oh," Link said dejectedly, realising that he should become more knowledgeable about current affairs.

He turned away as the conversation turned to how many husbands Hail had stole and walked up to his room. Tomorrow he would meet up with the church's council and have to tell them his story in detail. It was time for an early night...

*-*

_Link smiled as he slowly rode back to the shelter where the gerudo was normally standing. 1900 points out of 2000 points wasn't bad, even by his standards. 16 bulls eyes as well! Not something that even the gerudos do normally._

Not that Link did it normally for that matter. He had only just sneaked in here, the Gerudo Archery Course, on a whim when he heard that the Gerudos had gone into the desert for a while. He only got a chance to test his skills every few months. And then there was also the bonus that the Gerudos paid for the pots that he had smashed...

As he packed up his gear he wondered what they would think when they saw all the pots smashed and the arrows spread everywhere. Curse the vandal? Not that he cared. His happiness turned to slight gloom when he saw the dark clouds coming over the sky. They had certainly come over suddenly. Link would have sworn that they weren't there five minutes ago. They looked like they would last the night too. Not good. His tree house always leaked.

He had just begun to climb up onto his horse's back when the first lightning bolt struck. It was so sudden that Link fell down to the floor, shocked. Shaking the dust off, he climbed back up again. This time he managed to get on before an even larger bolt struck and Epona bolted. Clinging on desperately, he managed to slow her down, and finally she was under control again.

Until the earthquake came.

The land shook violently, so hard that parts of the nearby fortress crashed down and Epona again bolted, this time towards the bridge. Link stared around him in horror. What was happening? Epona just managed to jump in time as the bridge in front of them fell down into the river. Link didn't even want to know how far down that was.

As he emerged onto Hyrule Field he heard the first screams and loud screeches from the nearby ranch. Epona was charging towards it, her old home, as if she thought that she was safe there. If she thought that she was going to get a shock.

As they were charging towards it (the earth still shaking and the lightning still raining down) a huge crack opened in the earth splitting Lon Lon Ranch in two. Epona charged right through the middle, dodging the lightning bolts that were still pouring down. Link turned away, horrified as he saw the body of Malon, a piece of wood stuck through her heart.

Epona charged again to Hyrule Castle, only to see it too falling down, soon a mere heap of rubble. She didn't even bother to turn to the great furnace that was the Lost Wood, instead jumping over Zora's river and up into Kakariko Village.

Horrific memories came back to Link as he saw the buildings burn down, the great windmill again stopped. For one instant he saw the ghosts pour out of the graveyard, their home too lying as dust.

As Epona charged up the Death Mountain Trail she had just managed to turn in time to miss the huge limp body of a Goron falling to the ground. They reached the top of the precipice, and finally Epona thought that she was safe.

And then Death Mountain erupted, bringing true its name. Seas of lava poured down the mountain, and Link found himself riding a skeleton where life had been moments before. 

He clutched at a piece of rock, and to his amazement managed to hold on and to scramble up onto the top of it. From there he saw the lava cover Hyrule, destroying anything that was left. And still the lightning raged, and still the cracks in the earth opened.

With one last effort, Death Mountain exploded, fragments of it flying everywhere and anywhere. But Link was left untouched.

And when all the lava had finally be drained by the cracks in the Earth, Link could see nothing. A land of ashes, and one Hylinian on one pillar of rock.

Everything but Link had been taken.

It was the Day of Death. 


	7. Seven

****

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Author's note: Many thanks to any people who've read on so far. My apologies to those who were confused by the end of the last chapter. Reviews appreciated Without further ado:.

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **The night before they stay at an inn – and Link finds himself troubled by a strange nightmare…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** Seven **

A dream.

It had just been a horrible, horrible dream. Better still, as his mind warmed up and his vocabulary increased, a horrendous nightmare. And yet Malon was still dead, or as good as. His faithful steed Epona had always been there, even when he travelled through time or even dimensions. But now?

Now she might as well be that skeleton from his dream. She was gone, as all Hyrule had gone. Vaguely his mind recalled to him Malon, and the other strange dream that had welcomed him to this world. Her message still rang clear in his head.

_The sages, Link, the sages._

Yes, he would find the sages as soon as he could. But he needed help – this land was so gigantic that he could never have explored it all alone. His mind flung at him a new memory, or to be exact one with an even older origin. The innocent looking Goron mask that to a child would look like something of play. But it was anything but that – it was key to strength, and such speed that the memory of it made him dizzy even now. The speed would have been useful now though – he was getting tired of the slow obstinate horses that his new friend Nala had hired.

_The sages, Link, the sages. _

The thought again guiltily reminded him that he should be dressing and preparing for the day's work. It had always been easy for him to slip into comfortable thoughts when it was time to get up and to lull himself back to sleep again. One of his many weaknesses. Resisting the temptation he shoved the bed's blanket away and splashed his face with some nearby water. Now the bed would no more pleasures for him – at least until the evening.

Slowly he made his way down the narrow uneven steps which seemed to be designed to trip as many people as possible. He would have hated to have to attempt them after having too much to drink. He walked into the now bright bar and found that the drunkard from last night had been sensible enough not to try it; instead he lay asleep on the floor. In the corner he spotted Nala, already eating some bread.

"Good morning," Nala said cheerfully. His own city had obviously cheered him up.

Link nodded and started some of the strange food that had been placed down for him. So far he hadn't got used to the different culinary tastes, and to be honest he hated much of what he had eaten in the last few weeks. Yet, he realised that it was wise to stomach it so as not to annoy Nala.

Link looked out at the city and saw a much cheerful place than he had seen last night. It reminded him of a much bigger version of the market. A much, much bigger version of the market. Link even spotted a chicken running around in the background and a few children chasing it.

"So what do we do today?" he asked, trying to brighten up.

"We've got to visit the Glass Temple for a meeting," Nala said cheerfully, "and then I can show you around my home. There's nowhere nicer than Asreal."

Link nodded. He had heard a variant of that statement a thousand times before as Nala pointed out new landmarks, and while not all of them had been terrible places they hadn't all been perfect either. Still, it seemed like a nice enough city.

"Any chance of finding out about the sages?" he asked.

To his surprise however, Nala answered in the positive.

"Sure," he said, "I'm expecting to hear more at the Glass Temple. Trust me, this is the best place to be. Shall we go now?"

Link thankfully left his food and followed him out of the door. They were staying here this night as well and so their bags were left in the rooms. He still had a sword on him though, he felt defenceless and exposed without one. His Goron sword had not failed him yet.

They left the inn and walked along the city walls for a while. It was almost as wide as the road below. Most people came this way, only going back down again when they neared their destination. Nala took them down some old steps and they walked a short way through the city again. Link smiled as he dodged some children that were playing tag.

Gradually the class of people and buildings raised as they neared the Glass Temple. By the time they were in the now empty central courtyard it was impossible to see anything that would have not been far too expensive for any normal person to buy.

At the great doors of the Glass Temple Nala took out his crescent token again and showed it to the guards who were waiting outside. The guards bowed and moved back so they could go in. Link was annoyed when as he was going in the guards jumped back up again, waiting until Nala had passed.

But he soon forgot that when he saw the insides of the temple. Its walls stretched ten times as high as the Temple of Time's, and it was a breathtaking sight to see the huge sky above him through the opaque ceiling. He shivered once as he walked under the huge D'Ran knife which hung from the ceiling and the scenes that for a moment his imagination played through his head. It looked around half the size of him – its gigantic serrated blade thankfully not showing any signs of the blood of the victims it sacrificed long ago. He almost wished Nala had not told him its true use.

On the left was a wooden door in the side which led to the some of the stone parts of the building – which were dwarfed in size by the main glass building. Being the base of Nura's religion at many times private meetings were required – and these would be difficult to hold in a totally glass structure. As they approached it the door opened, and an old, stout man accompanied by a Xi bodyguard walked out of it. 

Nala saw Link's curious look as the Xi walked over to them and said, "It's just a security measure. An Xi to everyone apart from priests."

Link nodded absent-mindedly. He had heard about the Xi a while a go, and had felt proud when he learnt that the old measure of an Xi was completing the training course. Not that he could do half the things that the Xi were supposed to do. This Xi was a pretty girl with red hair, who would have looked innocent but for the two swords that were laid in their sheathes, and bow and arrow hanging loosely on her shoulder. 

Nala saw Link's curious look and said, "It's just a security measure. An Xi to everyone apart from priests."

The old man quickly hurried up to them and smiled at Nala. 

"I'm sorry," he addressed Link, "but we really need to talk in an important meeting, so... I'm afraid your story will have to come later. Tanya, why don't you go show Link around the city for a while? Say two hours?"

Tanya looked annoyed at the request, but nodding at Link and walked out of the door.

Link nodded at Nala before running after her. She was surprisingly quick, yet did not lose her dignity by running like Link.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked.

Link shrugged. "Where do you normally go?"

"I normally do my duties now," she said, reflecting her annoyance.

"What are they?" Link asked curiously.

"Mainly, looking for trouble," she replied. Her manner was that of one seemingly deliberately trying not to be friendly. It was as if she had already decided that she would hate him. "But I'm not sure I should take a civilian like you with me." 

For the thousandth time Link wished that he could reveal his past. If this arrogant warrior had known about his past…

"I can defend myself," he replied, pulling out his sword.

She raised her eyebrows. Then, as if to test his true knowledge she asked, "What type is it?"

"They call it a...a Big Goron's Sword," he told her, wondering if any Gorons had been heard of here. 

"Can I have a look?" she asked reluctantly.

Link nodded, and she slowly pulled out his sword from the sheath and examined it casually in her hands.

"Quite strong," she commented, suddenly swinging around and letting it crash into the wall. The sword remained unchanged. Tanya nodded her head slowly. "Good," she commented, "not unbreakable, but no swords are these days."

"Xi!" 

A man seemed to sprint out of nowhere, his eyes still wide open with shock and his breath almost gone. "Kidnapping…" he breathed out, and pointed back down an alley.

Tanya didn't wait to hear any more, instead sprinting off down the road. Yet again, Link found himself struggling to keep up with her.

"Do you want me to come?" he shouted forward.

Her head was on the verge of a shake before she slowly changed it to a nod. Perhaps she considered that he would be less trouble in her sight. She passed another few panicking civilians, who all pointed into one building.

She charged to the wall of the house and started to climb it. Somehow her feet managed to steadily find rests among the cracks in between the bricks. She got to the roof, pulled a rope from around her waist and threw one end down to Link. He took considerably longer than her to climb up even with the rope, but finally managed it.

Tanya tied the rope around her waist again and jumped down the house chimney. From the sounds Link heard, she hadn't got a very nice reception. 

"So much for the subtle approach," he muttered, running quickly to the chimney and climbed down it himself 

At the bottom the Xi had already four people tied up in strong rope. Link noticed their swords lying on the floor. Maybe the Xi's reputation wasn't so overrated after all..

Suddenly another man jumped out from behind a barrel and ran to the chimney, quickly scrambling up the rope. Link was after him in an instant. Finally he could prove himself. He reached the top and confidently poked his head out...only to get it hit by a huge club. For a moment he was too dazed to realise much, but when he could think again he found himself sprawled on top of the roof. The thug was tensing himself again, ready for the Xi. The strong kick to his chest emerging from the chimney soon showed him how futile his efforts were. He too, like Link, was thrown to the floor. However he must have been made of sterner stuff. Jumping to his feet he caught Link as he valiantly stood up, and help a knife to his throat.

"Don't," he threatened Tanya, taking a step back, "or you won't see him again."

The man pulled Link backwards, and then with incredible difficulty, up a ladder to another roof. Tanya had to wait for a moment, forced to follow far behind as Link and the kidnapper slowly got higher and higher. In those few minutes Link could have learnt a lot about Asreal's geography and its complicated interconnected roof system. He may not have known the maze, but he could tell what the general direction they were taking was. To the top of one of the highest buildings in Asreal - the Church Imperial Trade Centre, a building that was second in importance only to the nearby glass cathedral. There they stopped, the main seemingly wanting to wait for Tanya to catch up. That desperate time in the roofs had obviously given him a new plan.

"Xi!" he spat, "Give me on your honour safe passage or he goes."

But Link was properly awake now. While the man's attention was distracted he took his chance. He pulled himself downwards, pivoted on his right foot and shoved the man off the building. Or tried to - a pity it didn't quite work. As the thug fell roughly to the ground he put out his foot and tripped Link. Link stumbled for a moment and then fell - down the side of the building.

Tanya had a split-second decision. She dived quickly after Link- too late. To Link's horror he found himself with Tanya and the thug in free fall.

For a moment Link could have sworn that time slowed down to allow him a good view of his death. Below a few dozen people's heads swung skywards as they saw the fallers. Nala had thought Link would save this place. Instead he had only managed to get someone else killed. He looked up, hoping that he could catch her eye and show her that he was sorry.

But there was something wrong with her – even as she fell she had not given up, her body still taught in a combat position. Her hand shot towards him and he gladly grabbed it, thinking that she wanted them to die together. But her face remained dominated with concentration as her hand reached out seemingly desperately against the wall, her nails uselessly scraping down it. Only then did the eyes lose focus and turn to despair. Link could not have guessed the thoughts that were going on in there – the regret that she had dropped her sword in the fight. Regret that she hadn't told Link to wait. But most of all regrets that she hadn't told him the truth…

Her subconscious must have seen the wooden letters before her eyes did. Her instincts kicked back in – and not too late. Her eyes turned away as the thug's body broke sickeningly on the pavement. That wouldn't happen to her. Not to a Xi. Almost confidently, she made her last grab…

And caught something. Immediately her heart poured out a thousand prayers to Nura, her mind devoted to gratitude. Mentally she promised that she would not waste this chance fate had given her. She allowed herself a sigh of relief as she turned to see her saviour. It was the huge wooden 'T' from the carved sign stuck to the wall. She dropped down to the pavement which was just a few safe metres away. Link was already down. She walked forward to where he was standing and was about to speak when...he jumped straight at her, now his face the devoted one. Startled, she let herself fall to the floor as the rush of air above crashed into a wall. An arrow. Link had saved her live.

After a moment that seemed to last forever, she got up, and her eyes soon located the escaped prisoner who had thought killing her would be fun. He was hidden behind a crate. She was no longer picky of where she placed the stick she used to kill him. 

Then checking the sun's height in the sky she turned back to Link, "Time's up," she commented briefly, even though it did puzzle her slightly. Those few 'minutes' in the rooftop chase must have been longer than she thought. 

"You go on," she told him, suddenly seeing something. "I'll catch up."

Link nodded and gratefully walked away, perhaps happy to be alive. Or perhaps it was her now friendly tone of voice that cheered him up.

Tanya waited until he was out of sight and the crowd had dispersed before she turned to the shadows.

"How was he?" the hidden voice asked.

"Not bad," she finally decided. 


	8. Eight

****

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Author's note: Many thanks to any people who've read on so far. Just out of curiosity, anyone but StarDragon actually reading this? Without further ado:.

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Link meets an Xi calling herself Tanya and the two become uneasy friends.

****

Eight

The darkened room was still talking as Oliver Black stood outside the door, waiting quietly. His gaze swept over the people congregated in the room, mentally ticking them off on a register. They didn't look particularly serious – half of them were playing with cards and most of the rest were talking and grumbling – but he knew how much they had lost to _her._ That would be subject of most of their grumbling. And of course, probably some about him.

Gulping down some of the red Calt wine that he always kept with him, he slowly walked into the room, each step loud and determined. The heads of the pirates around him reluctantly turned to face the stage.

"You all know or can guess what this meeting is about," he started, making sure he sounded confident. "Most of you will have lost ships to Tarn and her new gang." He paused, spitting out the last word, "some of you will have lost more, some less. It is time to set an example that we will not be dominated over."

Black stared around the crowd looking to see who was not agreeing, and joining in with the general shouts of agreement. He noticed two at the back who were still murmuring quietly, and made a mental note to deal with them later. And if they were saying what he thought they were saying, he would make sure they found out the hard way the price of annoying him.

"Before," he continued, "all of us put together would board at a maximum of 10 ships a month out of the 300 that sail this ocean. That's enough. We're rich; we have food, the public still thinks of sea travel as relatively safe. We had enough money for anything we wanted." 

To emphasise his point, he threw the glass of expensive wine to the floor. A few of the more timid pirates flinched as the glass shattered.

"Last week, Tarn's fleet of 3 ships attacked 80 ships. In 3 seas that were normally safe for travel. In the Asrealan Sea only six ships managed to get through. Six! Most of those 80 ships had their cargo simply thrown into the sea, as Tarn had no room for it. Only 2 other ships were attacked by different groups – the majority of the ships due to sail that week postponed or cancelled the voyage due to the danger of attack. I don't blame them."

There was an even angrier shout than normal from the crowd and Black was glad that his fake statistics had enraged them - not that they were too far off the truth he had heard.

"The Nuran Navy hasn't captured one of our forces for over a year. They have no chance of taking Tarn even with her rash risk taking. They know that she's making a laughing stock of them, but so far they have completely failed to even scratch her."

He took in a deep breath and prepared himself for what he would say next.

"I propose that we form an alliance dedicated to destroying Tarn's ships," said Black, finally getting to his plan.

For a while the shouting made it impossible to continue as the more drunken members expressed themselves. But once it had again died down, another voice shouted out worriedly, "But what about her...Hail?"

Black stared at the red haired girl who had dared to speak. She looked only around 17. Deep down, he couldn't help feeling sorry for her. A tragic innocent, stuck in this putrid trade already. And yet from the look of her she still believed in the ancient teachings, so far as to dress in the traditional way. That was like a lot of pirates really, still deeply attached to the old beliefs. He reminded himself that he must never offend them directly through their religion.

"Tarn is not Hail," he spoke confidently. "Neither is that apprentice she took on Landstart. She is using the myth like Tana did 12 years ago, relying on the name to create her fear."

The familiar two at the back chuckled at that remark. Oliver Black's embarrassment at Landstart too quickly for him to stop it. He had underestimated the apprentice at Landstart, but he would not make the same mistake again. She was still a mystery, with not even his most powerful spy being able to tell him her origin.

"But..." the girl protested again, "Tana changed her name to Hail. The apprentice did not even know who Hail was. Is that not a sign?"

Black looked straight in her eyes to make her uncomfortable, before replying loudly, "No."

"So what's your plans?" called out a cocky Gerudo from a corner, "if you have any."

Black smiled. He had waited for this. 

"I have a...a representative in Tarn's crew who has informed me of their position. We will destroy the main ship and the other two ships will be forced to stop their attacks. We need no plan but to overwhelm them with numbers. If all of us here stick together we would have in excess of 50 vessels. Not even the real Hail could beat those odds. We have nothing to fear..."

He took in a deep breath and allowed his eyes to trail upwards. "…Apart from spies."

At the same instant he flung himself to the floor, just in time to miss an arrow which had just hit the wall behind him. Then a Xi assassin in the familiar dangerous red and white pattern jumped down from where she had been concealed. With a loud war cry, she drew her sword. 

Black jumped on to his feet and appeared to draw his own sword... only to throw it at her face. Surprised, the Xi blocked the incoming sword with her own weapon, but for a moment she let her concentration off Black. Taking his chance before she could attack again, Black sprinted forward and kicked out sharply. Her sword was only halfway up in defence as his foot rammed into her temple, knocking her down to the floor. For a moment, she was dazed and couldn't stand up. She tried, but she tried in vain as she realised when she saw the cold steel of her own stolen blade being thrust down at her.

As the first blood rushed the crowd leapt to their feet, their voices raised in simultaneous exultation the long feared ally but most often foe finally defeated. They stamped and they clapped and the more business minded of them ran to collect some of the blood knowing its potential worth later. Yet there were some who had already jumped to the feeling that most of them would come to eventually – wonder. The Xi were invincible; they always had been and they always should. They were the church's symbol of dominance, the reason this country had not long ago sunk to anarchy.

So who was this leader who could so calmly defeat the unexpected? Who was this who could turn the tides of history and defeat what even the Sadia and the Kalen could not? Hail or no Hail, with this man, who cared?

And as Oliver Black contemplated while he walked down from the stage, the dead actor had been well worth the money he paid for her.

*-*

"She must be stopped!" the priest claimed in his depressingly monotone voice. "She is openly contradicting everything we have said about the Distile. Her existence alone breeds mistrust."

"We are lying to them anyway," spoke another. "The Distile is here and now - we can no longer ignore that fact, we must take action and secure Nura's safety. We must study the texts and not take any irrational actions."

Link looked over across the tables and saw to his amusement that Tanya was almost as bored as he did by the oft-repeated arguments. Apparently the committee thing didn't suit her ever. An old story came to his mind of the lion that couldn't be tamed. Sitting over there, continually flicking the hair out of her eyes and glancing in exasperation at a blond man next to her she easily fitted the role. What had the end been? Oh yeah, now he remembered what Saria had… 

Whoops. Shouldn't have invoked her memory like that, it was too hard – too hard to forget and pretend that Hyrule didn't exist any more. Too hard not to realise that he should be out there searching for her right this minute.

"I may be considered an expert on the subject of Hyrule," a priest called Raymus said, joining the debate, "I have studied the co-existence my whole life and the early Kalen passages which talk about gateways between the two lands. But I think we're forgetting an even more knowledgeable expert that we have."

Link tried to look modest as the majority of the room turned to face him. Nala (who had been sitting next to him) got up and began to tell his story. Link tried not to blush with guilt as Nala mentioned the Kalen. Finally, he finished his account telling of how they had decided to travel to Asreal. Thankfully he didn't know about Link's latest rooftop adventures. So far these people's respect for him wasn't exactly high and if they found out how easily he had been kidnapped that respect would soon disappear. Link ventured to ask the question that had been annoying him for so long - "So, who are the Kalen exactly?"

There was silence in the room. Everyone tried hard not to look at each other with the exceptions of Nala who stared at him in horror while Tanya looked on ironically. Finally the head priest stood up - and Link quickly searched his memory for the man's name. Daimos, he was pretty sure Nala had said.

"I suppose we ought to repay your information," spoke Daimos at last, still sounding reluctant, "so I will try and tell you our story from the beginning and I am sorry if you have already heard it."

Link kept silent but his heart radiated thanks - finally he would learn the details Nala had refused to tell him about this strange land and its heritage.

"In the beginning," he started in the normal way, 'there were Hylinians and there were Gerudos. Sex was not a barrier and there was as many male Gerudos as there were female. The two races were one in this strange land and we know that were many gateways between this land and others. Gradually the races interbred until there were around five males in every generation. These became the Masters of the Xiam Kalendium. This select group was of Gerudos who would only live and breed with each other, and not the growing amount of Hylinian-mixes. These Gerudo males were the only people who had slight magic abilities in their blood and so over the generations the Xiam became a people with more power than the others could dream of. But they chose not to rule over the common Hylinians and Gerudos and instead to live on their own, gathering knowledge on the world around them.

"One of these early Xiam started studying the properties of light and soon he and his descendants became extra strong in their light control abilities. They developed new skills that the others envied and often tried to find out about. Soon other factions of the group formed until people were split into whether they were strong at a particular power.

"During this time the first Gerudo male outside of the Xiam was born, a common boy from a Hylinian father. The early people declared him King and from then on his descendants were always boys, and the Hylinian people worshipped them.

"Some Hylinian males travelled to the Xiam Kalendium and only if they could prove their worth they would become a 'Master', a receiver of the power from an original Gerudo man. The power from Master to Master was transferred in a special ceremony, and although not a proper member of the community they became trainers of the other Xiam.

"At this time the King with his lavish parties was needing more and more money so he raised the taxes until he could no more. The King became angry with the Xiam Kalendium who would not pay any money, and he sent an army out to force them to do so. The army lost the fight and from then on there was hate on both sides for each other.

"And then came the greatest moment in history - the enlightenment."

At just the mention of the word some of the priests dropped to their knees and began fervently praying. Others just dipped their head slowly until Link was left as the only one who hadn't at least lowered his eyes. After half a minute of this devotion Daimos continued to speak.

"Nura appeared for 40 days and taught people about her and how to live. Some of the Xiam started a church to worship her and for 40 years after she left power resonated over her land. The Xiam were given dreams which revealed prophecies that would take place far off in the future. Many of these prophecies were forgotten, but one in particular was remembered.

"There would be three times of light and three of dark. A few hundred years later the first bad time came. For the first time in millennia a Gerudo male was born into the Xiam Kalendium, and he was one of the Xiam who controlled light. He was crowned king and all the followers of the light power came and supported him, but the rest would still not support him or pay taxes. They supported the growing church. So the Xiam Kalendium split up into the Xi and the Kalen. Later the Kalen became known simply as the 'Royal Guard'.

"Then thousands of years passed and the second dark time came, 'The Calalite War'. After the rebels seized control with the power they held in this enormously explosive stone, the church stockpiled their own material for safety. Years later when the monarchy was reinstated the King tried to demand the destruction of the church's supply so he could have sole control insured upon. And so the Xi (the guardians of the church) and the Kalen (the guardians of the King) fought.

"The King was killed and Gerudo males are no longer born in Nura, and so there are no more kings here. The once respected 'Royal Guard' became the lowly True Gerudos and even they gradually are disappearing.

"And now we think that the third and final dark time comes."

Daimos took a sip of water and spoke briefly.

"There are only a few predictions that are clear in the third dark predictions. One is '_She, on high, will be taken low, for she trusted mortal, and so was tricked by mortal and trapped by mortal.' _The one you have probably heard, '_They who rule in fear the sea will be led by she, Hail and she will bring death and then life and then death._' "

"I'm not so sure about that interpretation," spoke up one priest and Link recognised the resultant groan as one of over familiarity with the subject matter. Gradually the speaking descended into monotonous babble and Link was again reduced to fighting off slumber.

"For example, the earthquakes are a classic Distile omen..."

Except the phrase wasn't being spoken – Link's mind was teasing him and recalling the time when it had been said. There must be some reason for it – Link's mind may have disobeyed his feeble attempts to try and controls its thoughts, but those thoughts normally had some inspiration. Later on this moment would seem ridiculous to him – how could he have not realised that the ground was shaking? How could he have not seen the pebbles trickling down the wall?

Two stones, one after another, crashed down from the ceiling, not too far where Nala was sitting. The situation was instantly clear to everyone. The long prophesised earthquakes had finally decided to put in an appearance.

The priests stared around them in horror as the roof continued to crack in the shaking room. It was only when the majority of the stones began to get dangerously sized that they realised staying there was not a good idea. 

"Get out!" shouted one priest, and soon everyone took up the cry - which only seemed to anger the earthquake more. They ran terrified into the main chamber. From every door more people ran, some screaming, some solemnly quiet. Link noticed Tanya running around near trying to evacuate people from the chaos. And then parts of the glass of the roof began to fall down raining on the people's heads.

Link instinctively drew for his sword that had been so little use when he was a hostage. But it would take more than steel to stop this tantrum of nature.

There was a huge crowd at the exit, desperately trying to escape. Two Xi were slowing the crowd down, making sure the panic-stricken people crushed no one.

And then everyone's eyes were drawn to the same person. The shouting figure of Tanya. What was wrong with her? Nala suddenly saw the Xi Link had been with before charging towards Link, her eyes on the ceiling above. Nala followed her eyes up and saw the D'Ran statue falling directly towards the Hylinian boy. Link glanced up at the last moment, but it was too late for him.

The huge stone knife reached him first, pushing him to the ground and cutting through his chest, the floods of blood only too eagerly escaping. And then the great weight of the statue began to crush his body to the floor. The Xi reached him first, and with almost superhuman strength pulled the statue off him. 

It was clear that it was too late. As Nala ran towards the boy he could see the blood pouring all over the floor and his crushed rib cage. The Xi was trying to straighten his back but Nala knew it was useless.

Link would die.


	9. Nine

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Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Link meets an Xi calling herself **Tanya** and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link, crushing and killing… 

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****

Nine

It was a sea. Before it had been pain; his whole body conspiring against him. Even its memory seemed to be fading away and join into and become the nothingness 

How to describe the nothing – a sea of consciousness? For that was what he was floating through, filled of nothing but knowledge and... And...

"Life?"

It wasn't a thing speaking to him, it was an all; a crystal with unlimited facets that looked different from every side. At once it was Rauru and his wisdom; Malon and her sense of fun, even Ganondorf and his sneering. It could surround him and be individual at the same time, or even live through an object as simple as a field of grass. It seemed to him that he himself was choosing what it looked like, yet whatever it was wasn't unaware of the form it was taking. It wasn't controlling his eyes directly but maybe it could influence his mind.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Everywhere," said the now scornful form of Tanya.

"Tanya?" from him.

"No, silly," laughed Saria. They were on the bridge from the Lost Woods. As before, he knew that the reason he was there because he expected to be there. Somehow, this it was beyond simple places

Link was glad that his mind, or its or whatever had chosen Saria. It made him feel safe and comfortable and he couldn't help hoping that the image would stay like this. "You've got to let go of her," told Malon in the same voice as when she challenged him to a race. It was almost a metaphor for his life he reflected ironically. At first the safety of Saria and then the independence and games of Malon.

"Looks like I'll have to help you." This from Navi while the were still outside the Deku Tree. He smiled, there was one voice he hadn't heard for a while even before he had come to Nurai. His memories of his first quest were infested with her unstoppable voice. Somewhere along the line he must have actually got fond of her.

Now it was Zelda's courtyard and the princess herself - "This will help."

And then it came:

*–*

Dark lightning split down through the sky as the wind battered by. The old man cowered against the small stone wall that protected him from the vicious rain. The dry soil of yesterday had turned into a river of mud and, unsurprisingly, he did not feel like sitting down in it.

He swallowed hard and tried to think of what he should do next, where his next hiding place would be. The idea of simply letting it all end came to him once again, but with difficulty he pushed it back down, his survival spirit just winning.

He began to side-step around the edge of the great stone building he had found, looking for an entrance. He began to uselessly wish that the rain would just stop for five minutes so he could actually look properly. A howl broke out in the air from the east and the man, shuddered, knowing that he would not have long to escape in.

The howls got closer and closer as he edged round, until finally he saw the black hound walk fiercely from the bushes. It growled menacingly and jumped towards him, barring its teeth. The man shrank back, but kept moving. The wolf slowly stepped nearer again. 

The man walked into a branch of a sharp spike covered tree and winced in pain. Keeping his jaw clenched he broke off a long section of the branch, and swung it wildly at the wolf. The wolf yelped in pain and jumped backwards, but was soon marching forward again.

Desperately the man wildly tried to keep the wolf back while he made his way round, looking for a way in. The black shape flung itself forward and with its sharp teeth managed to bite off most of the branch, although not without obvious pain in its mouth. But the ploy had done its purpose – the short branch he had now would be of little use.

The old man suddenly stopped and wondered where the rest of the pack was. Why was the wolf hunting alone? Sweat broke out on his forehead as the wolf got even closer - its teeth right next to his coat. He closed his eyes and waited for death, trying to remember the proper prayers to make.

The wolf jumped and its teeth connected with the mans throat, even as destiny occurred. For a large bolt of electricity had from the clouds jumped down to their, frozen in this moment, connected vessels of life. The man screamed in pain as the heat poured through his skull and down his neck. The agony was more than he had ever known, and his whole being just wanted it to end.

And then it stopped. There was no more pain, no more weariness. He was not afraid of the wolf any more. He was not cold any more. But he did live. He did not know how, but he was still conscious. But where, and so much more importantly, what was he?

*–*

"But later." The astronomer from Termina welcomed him back, the familiar Goron mountains to the north and across the gentle hills the Deku Swamp to the south..

"In time you will understand," explained Shiek, answering the unasked question.

"You wish to seek the Princess of Destiny?" The Deku Tree, its bark not yet grey asked. 

"Then there I will take you," offered the being whose name would always be more simply remembered as just the 'owl'. And once again Link felt the familiar rush of feathers and exhilaration as he sped upwards.

*–*

Ganondorf found that he spent most of his time marching along corridors. In a way, he was glad that he had finally destroyed Hyrule, but that was only a first step. This other annoying land which had appeared seemed to be just as full of potential heroes as Hyrule had.

The first step would be to try and get the local chief bad guy to serve him. The pirate called Hail would be a valuable servant indeed. She could be his primary defence.

And second of course, he had their God.

He used the sceptre to call her and smiled as a Gerudo woman appeared on the other side of the room. Instinctively he knew the truth about the image she has chosen..

"Ahh...Nura," he said, still smiling.

"What do you want?" she asked, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"You have a small gift, that is not granted to us..." he paused for an instant and then, "'mortals'."

"What?" she asked sarcastically.

"Can't you remember?" he laughed at her.

"What... what do you mean?"

"I've been reading up on these Kalen. It is of no matter. As you did before for one of my kind, you will do now."

"What?" she said, her voice dangerous.

"You will tell my future," he replied. 

Nura laughed in contempt but obediently closed her eyes and thought for a few seconds. "It is hazy... I can not see anything specific."

"My future!" roared Ganondorf angrily, "First, will I ever rule a land again like I did before?"

Nura paused, sighed, and then answered, "Yes."

Ganon was much brightened by this statement. "And will Zelda or Link stop me?"

"The Hero of Time will not stop you."

"Do not play games with me," Ganon said quietly, "What of Zelda?"

Nura laughed. "How could she?"

Ganon smiled again. "Why?"

And so she told him. And Ganondorf laughed, finally happy to wait, and do his role in this long prophesied play. It would be fun indeed..

*–*

"The future is never clear." This time it was Impa warning him, and to his surprise he found for the moment that her image stayed constant. This wasn't the same as before, instead of an all this Impa seemed to be an individual. He was felt separate and on his own, almost lonely.

"Then I can stop this happening?"

"Possibly you may. Remember Link, we are but pawns in this great game. You are luckier than the others and the gods have given you the symbol of their power. You are given the gift of being free of time."

Link nodded. "I know. I can travel between different years or days."

"That's not what I mean," said Impa shaking her head. "Have you ever fallen down a cliff or been beaten by one of Ganondorf's monsters?" 

"No."

"I tell you that you have, perhaps many times yet you do not remember it. You are able to fall off a bridge fifty times and still try once again as if nothing has happened.

"But you are being noticed by others – otheir powers and it can not last. Your protection will not hold for long. The spirit that is protecting you can give you perhaps one more chance and then it all will be over and done. You will recognise her symbol when it comes."

Link looked at the old woman and the whiteness that surrounded them and asked, "Where am I?"

"This is where everything that is not physical is stored. Facts, dreams even those who call themselves gods. To here all that are dead travel."

Link stared into those eyes and wondered who was really speaking to him.

"Are they really gods?" The question was inevitable.

"They believe so. But they don't control their own destiny – and they are not as absolute as they would seem. All I know is, if their is some ultimate power we were not chosen to know about it."

He considered for a while. "Can I return to Nurai?"

"When you do," Impa answered, "you will hardly remember any of this. And you will not be able to return, at least until your real death. I will have to release my control and cast you into the knowledge, I am sorry for that, for it will hinder you. But it is the only way for them to realise that you do not belong here."

He nodded, wondering why she regretted it.

"But first," she finished, "there is someone you wanted to see." 

*–*

A seagull flew lazily by as Hail let herself be supported by the cool ocean water. She was resting in a deserted small bay while on the other side of the small island that they had discovered a few hours ago the ship anchored.. The crew would have their own leisure time later, but until then Hail had ordered no one to even come in sight of this side of the island. For the first time in months she had peace and privacy to allow her to consider. And yet, not even now she seemed to ever be able to relax.

Her mind was constantly in a whirl, spinning between three ever returning states. First there was a cold tactical mind that dominating, twisting between future lines of attack and possible victories. Those were always the easy times. Then there was the times that made her panic – the moments when castles and lakes and even huge mountains with a fiery ring at the top came back to her. Or the boy in green, he was always returning to her dreams and thoughts. The weirdest thing was that she knew that she should know these places and people, but try as she might she could not recall any details of them.

But the third type was the strangest, and normally she was so curious that she had no time to be worried. It came much less frequently and was always the faintest as the times came perhaps once or twice a week. Sometimes there would be the green fields and mountains again, the same locations but somehow different times. But the scene that came the most was a desert, a ring of stones and a strangely terrifying knife. 

Her logical mind was never scared as it was too thinking of events ahead, and the strands of time left. Somehow she would have to find the way to predict what everything was doing and then overcome them all. So far she had been using basic tactics. Yet the army of a country which had not seen war for so long was untrained, and Hail found it easy to elude them all. But now the confrontation was coming. 

She had not needed all the reports to tell her that Black was coming after her. And that was bad news. Black was a con artist and that helped him inspire people when needed. The latest reports said that he had 50 ships under his command. Whichever way you looked at it, 50 ships was 50 ships, a few hundred men and women and almost as many cannons aimed right at her..

Yet there was still hope – there would always be hope as long as she was alive. She still had two weapons that Black was unaware of, and she meant to keep it that way; for they were strong, but only in secrecy. Besides, she sensed that she still had a role to play beyond this battle. Yet another mysterious man of green occasionally called to her.

Dizkre's family had served generations in waiting just to give her the precious Calalite and she could not help feeling slightly grateful. For it was undoubtedly more valuable than gold or diamonds, and many would have risked their lives for the fortune it would bring if found.

Only now were the memories of the great conflict it had started were beginning to fade. Yet a few questions to some of the crew or even a stranger would quickly unblock a stream of anecdotes.

As far as she had learnt it all started after Calalite's property had first been discovered. Its secret was simple – nothing else known on the planet was as explosive. When fire was held near it would seem to absorb the heat easily for a few seconds. But then, an instant later it would all change – the stone would annihilate itself and everything in the surrounding area. It was said that a gram of the material could destroy a tower.

Soon the rich houses had quickly stockpiled the material as quickly as it could be mined. Everyone was afraid of what a few rebels would do with the explosive. The stones themselves were mined in the snow lands, where using a special process the explosive power could be gradually leaked out until they were relatively harmless. But disaster struck before the procedure could become common place.

After stealing two tonnes of the material from a royal ship the long feared rebels tried to destroy every stone left to give themselves a powerful monopoly in the material. Every rebel had a standard method - cover the ground of the target with fuel, run and throw a burning torch. Many of the rebels didn't survive, but neither did the stone. The rich houses found themselves in a dangerous situation, they could buy no more Calalite. All the mines had been deliberately caved in. It was a nightmare inducing time.

The rich became poor, the poor became rich. Only the priests kept neutral, protected by the Xi from any harm. Great monuments were shattered, falling to the rebels. Separate groups split off from the main army and became terrors of the their own. Any person with a gun and Cala powder could hold back a normal army. Nothing was safe.

Eventually the original two tonnes ran out and the loyal followers of the old king took back their normal rule. The king's first demand was that any surviving grain of Cala powder was to be destroyed, no exceptions. The king's guards, the Kalen, soon destroyed every piece and all was thought to be well. Then years later the king's son discovered that the church still held a ton of the rock. Furious he demanded that they gave it to the king's guard to be destroyed. The church refused. Which of course led to the war between the Xi and the Kalen, the king's execution when the Xi won and finally, the eventual rule of the church over the country.

And now that power had come to her. Hail swam back to the beach and lay in the sun for a while, letting it dry her off. Black was playing a dangerous game and that could be exploited. The first thing to do was to contact the Actor's Guild...

*–*

The sea flooded back in, over and around him but this time there was no form to focus on or shield from this knowledge.

Information floated through him, so quickly that he couldn't possibly remember it, and had to let it move further away from him. Occasionally he'd pass huge beings like great whales in an ocean, their mouths open wide swallowing as much as they could.

Through his head went more feelings, opinions, and points of view then he could ever hope to understand. In his head for an instant he would know the life story of a person, and then a few minutes later he would see their death.

A few times in the great torrent that swept through his head he would find a drop of information about him and he would hold this for as long as possible before it was swept along out of his head once again.

In his mind for an instant he knew his birth, his death, the girl he would marry, the people he had saved, the lives he had ruined. Scenes familiar, and scenes distant mingled so he was not sure which was which, which was truth and which was destiny. He only knew for certain that he was himself; the only fact he could keep sacred.

And then the great forces came closer, like a net beginning to surround him, and push him out. The net began to shrink and the knowledge was forced into his head as it had nowhere else to go. And as he was pushed out and down out of the ocean his mind desperately searched the knowledge for facts about himself.

Only one fact came to him which was relevant and it was both refreshing but familiar. He was still alive. But he knew not for how long.

**Author's Note:**

Ahem - sorry, yes I'm not quite putting up a sign with RIP Link on it quite yet. Originally, Link's 'death' occurred in the middle of the chapter so as not to confuse people, but in the end it was just too good a cliff hanger not to use. Anyway, hopefully you all understand why it was used - to highlight the fact that he is not immortal. Sorry for that and for this chapter really, personally I felt that it wasn't that good. Anyway, I promise that from now on, what you see is what you get, no more nightmares or whatever. Well, maybe a few more - got to keep you guessing...


	10. Ten

****

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Author's note: Nothing really to say – enjoy.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is told that before the Nuran church will help her find other survivors from Hyrule she must do an undercover mission for them, and join up in **Lain Tarn**'s crew as a pirate. She is given the new name of **Hail** as a joke, as Hail is the name of a mythical pirate queen who will come before the end of the world. However, after she saves the ship, the crew starts a mutiny and makes her captain. She finds that she can no longer remember about Zelda or anything that happened before she was Hail. She is given by a man some of the explosive material ever discovered, **Calalite**.

But others are conspiring against her, and in particular **Oliver Black** is planning to lead a massive coalition of the other pirates against her to stop he ever growing domination of the sea. After a meeting (during which he especially manages to impress them by killing an actor he had hired to pretend to be an assassin sent from the Actor's Guild) he manages to recruit enough comrades to set his ideas in motion. 

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Link meets an Xi calling herself **Tanya** and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. Finally he awakes once again… 

****

Ten

Link opened his eyes and found a worried face staring down at him. He saw the mouth on the face form an almost smile, and then the head above him swung up into the air, and shouted something out that he could not hear. He felt incredibly hot and helpless as he stared around him and gradually recognised the roof of the great Glass Temple. He saw someone vaguely familiar come towards him, but even in his distressed state he sensed that there was no one he knew too well here. Those people were somewhere...somewhere else.

He shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on where they were and who these new people were, but it was hard and all he could seem to think of was a beautiful sunset. He became frightened. That was all he could remember, all there was of him. The face appeared above him again and muttered something that he could just make out as, "We'll just carry you to...."

"No," he mumbled, and resolutely stood up himself, again shutting as his eyes to try to block out his fear as his insides shook. He began to walk forward himself and found that that was almost worse.

The face, a girl around his own age, began to lead the way across the temple to a side-wing. Everyone else watched silently as he slowly walked past them, their faces filled with an emotion whose name his mind was not in a state to recall.

Link noticed that something important had stopped but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He began to feel weak again as they went through a door into a stone corridor and for a moment he had to lean on the wall. The girl slowly led him up a staircase, and down another corridor.

"How f...ar?" asked Link wearily.

"Not long," the girl answered quietly, her voice trying to hide her worry as she took him up a few more steps. 

At the top Link hesitated, and leant against the wall again, breathing heavily, trying to get his energy back. After a few minutes he made his way after the girl into a small room with a bed in it. He glanced out of the window as he slowly stumbled over to the bed. The sun was shining and he could see children playing below, smiling and laughing, oblivious to everything that was going on. Link felt a surge of jealousy come over him. They had everything going right for them, and he couldn't even remember who he was.

He sank down on the bed gratefully and closed his eyes. All he seemed to want now was rest.

*-* 

Rein groaned inwardly as he settled in the nest that had become his temporary home. From here, above a tall statue, he could see most of the huge deserted hall that he had lived in for the last few weeks. He eat the small creature that he had caught, and then pondered yet again on his situation.

Since that moment a few weeks ago when his spirit had left his body he had lived as and in an old bird that nested in the stone relic. Somehow the lightning had dissected his spirit and his body, freeing his mind into the wider world. But it felt more than a prison than freedom, his senses no longer existed – and thus neither did sight, hearing, touch or smell. But he could think, and even still feel the spirit of the wolf desperately clutching onto him.

Eventually his sight and other senses had suddenly appeared, yet they were different somehow. It didn't take him long to realise that he was truly trapped, trapped in a bird's body, stuck in it presumably till it died. Most of the time he just inhabited the back of its mind, a casual watcher. Occasionally he would manage to take over control, and bask in the sheer freedom of flying. He felt young again, free and able. And the more he thought of it, immortal. 

From the texts he had read when he was human, he knew that as long as his host lived he would live with them, but be set free when they died. Then he would presumably float around until he was once more connected. At the back of his mind he was also sure that he had read of a way for him to leave bodies without killing them. Probably a skill of the masters of the Xi and Kalen, but that was as specific as his memory would go.

They were the only people who could kill him, but they would never find him unless he wanted them to. Maybe in a few centuries he would find his way into a human. Would he take over then, or just watch? It was an interesting, no incredible idea. 

If he was careful he could fight hundreds of battles, get married thousands of times, read all the books in the world. He would live as long as the gods. He would see evil conquer good, good conquer evil. It was awe–inspiring - dreams and avenues opened to him every moment, new horizons to conquer. If he flew far enough he might even be able to watch his descendants grow up.

All he had to do now was choose a direction, and fly that way. The hunters wouldn't find him now. How could they? Even as they were examining his dead body, he would be flying over their heads to eternal freedom. Maybe one day he would get bored. But not now. Not for a long time.

*-* 

Nala stared at the now stained shattered red stone knife and slowly shook his head. He still was almost angry. Angry at himself and his mind for being more scared about the knife's failure to kill Link then he was glad that he was alive. 

For the ancient statue of D'Ran was named after the knife it held, the knife whose slightest touch had never failed to kill. To praise Nura with blood it had sacrificed many lives – until a message from Nura had stopped the barbaric process. Then the knife had been immortalised in this memorial temple to the dead, made solely out of glass. And of course most of the church simply liked to forget about the original meaning of the building that had become its home.

But it was always at the back of their mind, how could it not as they walked under it every day? And another Distile prophecy had been upheld: -"_The dagger of the God will no longer kill."_ Link had been spared to fulfil the prophecy. Even as he had walked away to the room to rest everyone could see that the wound had almost already healed, and that there was no scar. And yet there was still a flood of blood across the whole temple floor.

A vaguely familiar small old woman wearing a blue cloak came up to him from the east wing and muttered something to him. The first time he could not it make it out through her old voice but finally he realised what she was saying. "I know what is wrong." 

Then Nala looked down at her, distracted from his thoughts, and searched his mind for her name. "You're the..." he started.

"I don't have a name," she said, "not a fixed one anyway. I'm a specialist in mind interpretation."

"A witch," said Nala coldly.

"If you wish to call me that. I have been trying to cure your casualty."

"If you have to."

The door from which she came was flung open again, and Tanya, Link's Xi friend, ran out of it and up to Nala. The Xi called Tanya came up to them and asked the witch, "How is he?"

"Physically he's fine," the witch said, deliberately turning her back on Nala to face the girl. "Mentally..."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Tanya, her voice actually concerned, "has he damaged his memory?"

"Quite the opposite in fact. I tried to look into his mind when he was sleeping and…" the witch stopped and considered, "he has more pictures and knowledge in his head than any I have known."

Nala's attention was caught with that sentence, and he asked quickly, "What do you mean?"

"He has other memories. Someone has put the recollections of thousands into his head. When I tried to read his mind I was lost by it all. All I can guess is that there is so much information in his head that his own memories are overwhelmed in it. His head is not sure of what is of he and what is of other. Only one of great skill could hope to penetrate through all of it to his original memories, and people as skilled as that just don't exist any more. He needs to go through all the other memories first, and let himself sort them."

"How do we do that?" Tanya asked.

"We can't," the witch replied, "'I'll happen naturally through dreaming. He was actually dreaming about some storm or other when I was reading his mind."

"How long will that take?" asked Nala in an impatient tone.

The woman sighed. "50, 60 years of solid sleep."

"There goes that idea," muttered Tanya.

"What do we do then?" demanded Nala.

"We only have one option," the witch replied. "We'll have to artificially reinstate his own memories."

"How do we do that?"

"We'll need someone who has been close to him for his whole life. His memories will have subconsciously bonded with theirs. Then the framework of his own memories should comeback and then his other memories will naturally reappear."

"That could be a problem...." Nala hesitated, "nearly everyone he was with for most of his life is dead."

*-*

As far as Black could see there were ships - his navy sailing across the sea. 50 moving armies and approximately 5000 cannons were waiting for his word. At a signal the rockets would be lit and their message read by people on the other ships, who would then do whatever he had commanded. At the moment though they had just been anchored here for 2 days, waiting for Hail's ships to come close.

A small rowing boat drew up to the side of the Black's ship and, as was the standing orders for the moment, a rope ladder was thrown down to it. A stout old man climbed up it eventually and smiled over at him.

"Oliver! When do we move?" he asked cheerfully.

"Soon," Black was short, he had no time for anyone who was impatient, inquisitive or just not useful.

"How soon." The voice had lost just a touch of its cheerfulness.

"I'll just check," Black said in a sarcastic tone, although now that he came to think of it, it wasn't that bad an idea. This was the third captain that had come to him in an hour and that meant that the lot of them were getting restless. It was time to confer with his source and gauge how long he had to prepare. Nodding to a nearby pirate to escort the old captain away he quickly walked over to his cabin.

After all he could always check whenever he wanted. A small spell purchased, well taken, from a witch in Selonius allowed him to always keep in touch. Closing the door firmly behind him, he called out as loudly he dared, "Where are you?"

A portrait hanging on the wall glowed for a few seconds and then Black could see the familiar look as the colours began to blur and change. Finally he could see his spy on Hail's ship.

"Lain - where are you?"

"Luckily for you I'm in my cabin."

"You know what I mean. Now co-ordinates."

Black could see Tarn's face contort as she recited the exact position from memory. There was no need to pretend about anything with her, she was getting paid enough. She knew that she would be welcome onto Black's ship if she could get there. The problem was the 'If'; the unmentioned variable and neither of them bothered to discuss.

"We can get to you in two hours. The men are ready."

"Time for you to run off then," Lain said, her voice showing her disgust. Black wasn't worried that she thought him a coward to run away – they both despised each other equally. She thought that he was a lowly con-man who, probably rightly, did not trust in his own commanding skills while he thought of her as pathetic for not being able to even control her own radio. He broke off the connection and wrote down the co-ordinates and his battle strategy on a piece of paper. Which excuse for leaving would he use today?

*-*

"So you will give him his memories?" Raymus, an old friend of Daimos, asked.

Nala nodded. "I will give him temporary memories until we can find someone to give him back his old thoughts."

"And who will do that?" enquired the priest, who although not as powerful as the head of the church could still wield huge forces.

"From what he has told me, there is a sage from his own land called Saria who should be able to do that," Nala replied. "As soon as we find her we will perform the ritual."

"You have found her?"

Nala nodded. "People have reported that there is extra dark activity near the Darii Temple of the Crescent. From what he has told me the sages were once trapped in places similar to it, and it would be our best hope. I'll take Link there and help rescue her."

"You'll need extra help," said Daimos.

"That's alright," confirmed Nala, "the trainee Xi Tanya has said that she'll help us. She's up with Link now, sitting with him while he sleeps."

*-*

The rat jumped to the floor from the table and walked a few small steps before finally dropping to the floor exhausted. A bad mistake - the nearby cat enjoyed the welcome meal. And Rein enjoyed getting out of the rat's body at last. He quickly pulled his spirit away from the cat. He had not travelled so far just to be in a small animal. Finally he was in a city and could find the body of a human.

It was a pity that he had not been able to get rid of the wolf spirit, but it still resolutely hung onto him. As long it didn't try to interfere he could stand having it follow him. The stupid thing seemed to be too frightened to do anything so far, and Rein didn't blame it. A simple beast must be absolutely terrified.

Rein always found the time between bodies strange. He had no sense of time passing so he did not seem to get bored, but he could instinctively say that it was ten minutes since he had last been in a body. It was a new experience to be so nearly out of time, and he didn't like it that much.

A familiar jolt suddenly shook him and excitedly he peered out of his new senses. He was in a young boy, and for a moment he found himself a bit taken aback. Then he slowly began to peer into the memories of this boy that it looked like he would share a life with. The first thing to his interest he found was that the family was a descendant of one of the Royal Guard. Searching through the boy's memory he finally found out that it was his great-grandfather that had been one of the Kalen.

For a few days it was refreshing enough to be a human again and Rein tried to get used to this boy and his life. Rein remembered his childhood, and his early years. It would be interesting to grow up again. Rein could not force himself to kill a human to transfer himself but he wondered how far he would eventually go in influencing this boy.

Rein learnt about the boy's family. His father, his mother, sister, and two brothers. Gradually he got used to the boy's lazy life. He was there when the boy and some friends made their own raft and narrowly escaped dying testing it on the river. He was there when the boy's tutor tried to teach him Mathematics. Then he could not help affecting the boy's mind and helping him to learn. He gradually learnt how to put a principle in the boy's mind so subtly that he wouldn't even notice. He enjoyed it and soon helped him understand things beyond his years. Rein helped him construct his own telescope, and map the stars. He helped to write several pieces of music that could have been played by the Royal Orchestra. The boy's mind was young and so he learned easily all the skills Rein taught him.

When he was eleven the boy made a firm decision - he would become an Xi master. Rein had led the boy to literature and helped him stay open minded so that he saw the two sides of every argument. He helped the boy to see past the insults of the Xi that all his family gave freely and instead look at the honour behind them. He showed that they weren't simple assassins and instead taught the history of the Xiam Kalendium so he could see how both sides were actually related.

He made the boy see that as a trainer of Xi he could shape the way the world worked and make it a better place. And to his delight the boy responded, and every day exercised in the garden for several hours, so he would be fit enough when the eventual time came. He convinced his parents to let him give up his general studies so he could study on his own what he was good at - music, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy.

He did not realise it, but he was teaching the boy to be how he would have wanted himself to be. He was making the boy into himself. And he did not realise how much danger he was putting himself into.

*-*

When Link woke for the second time, he felt better. He could not get out of the bed which he was lying in, the cover now laid over his body, but he felt slightly less dizzy. He looked up and could see the girl from before sitting in a chair besides the bed.

"How are you?" she asked, seeing that he was awake.

"Better," he said quietly, and then, "who are you?"

The girl opened her mouth as if to speak, and then shut it again smiling.

"You don't remember my Xi name, do you?"

Link shook his head. He didn't remember anything. 

"It doesn't matter any more," she said, more to herself than to Link, "I'm called... Tan...Tai."

Link nodded, and suddenly fell dizzy again. He lay back down onto the bed to sleep.


	11. Eleven

****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: Amazingly I'm still writing this – I did wonder if I'd actually get this far. Ah well, still big plans for the future. Thanks if you bothered to read even at least this far in this one chapter. Anyway…

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is told that before the Nuran church will help her find other survivors from Hyrule she must do an undercover mission for them, and join up in **Lain Tarn**'s crew as a pirate. She is given the new name of **Hail** as a joke, as Hail is the name of a mythical pirate queen who will come before the end of the world. However, after she saves the ship, the crew starts a mutiny and makes her captain. She finds that she can no longer remember about Zelda or anything that happened before she was Hail. She is given by a man some of the explosive material ever discovered, **Calalite**.

But others are conspiring against her, and in particular **Oliver Black** is planning to lead a massive coalition of the other pirates against her to stop he ever growing domination of the sea. After a meeting (during which he especially manages to impress them by killing an actor he had hired to pretend to be an assassin sent from the Actor's Guild) he manages to recruit enough comrades to set his ideas in motion. 

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Link meets an Xi calling herself **Tanya** and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

Black's forces are now approaching Hail although he decides to leave them before the battle begins after learning their position from his spy on board Hail's ship – Lain Tarn. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. 

He awakes after one of these dreams to be told by Tanya that her real and original name was Tai…

****

Eleven

The sun dawned on the city of Asreal, and so gradually its people began to awake. The long quiet night was over and soon noise rang through the streets again as people prepared for the day's work. The sound of a ball being kicked from one child to another was heard, and two girls whispering and then laughing quietly in a corner.

It seemed like the perfect summer's day, and the city seemed to have forgotten the great shape of the half-collapsed Glass Temple that cast its long shadow over it. The children jumped over the rubble of other casualties, and continued in their play. For them the ground's shaking had almost been forgotten.

The week that had gone by had healed many wounds, reflected Bren, as he walked along the city wall. He was high above the houses, shops and taverns, slowly considering life while he idly played with a ball in his pocket.

The date for their departure had been set; the rescue groups would leave early next week. The church had commissioned two groups of guards to rescue the sages, and all Bren had to do was decide which he would join. Or rather, which group Tai would join.

There had been something different about her in the last few days, yet Bren could not quite put his finger on it. She had seemed happier, but exactly why Bren was not sure. He had seen less and less of her, but from the progress she was obviously making he knew that she was not slacking on her exercises. She spent most of her time with Link, the supposed boy from another world. For some reason she had even abandoned the Xi name that had so forcefully made sure she was called before then. 

He was still not quite sure about the stranger, still not sure if he was what the priest Nala said and what the others hoped. He remembered back to just before the earthquake, when Tai had pointed him just after the two of them had fallen down the building. Then he had judged there to be subtle strength in those muscles – and experience in those eyes. And yet something was bothering him, and for a moment he wondered whether it was something else entirely.

Perhaps it was that feeling of jealousy of a trainee that he had once been stronger than, as Tai increased in her skills daily. Bren knew that it would not be very long before she would be stronger than him. All Xi women were. That was the reason the men became the Xi Masters, as they were not deemed strong enough to do anything but teach. It was rather an insult and a compliment at the same time, he thought.

But there was something else different about her. Something very, very subtle. Yet very familiar. And yet, for now, he had absolutely no idea what it was. Neither could he pick a specific moment when he had noticed it. He looked through his memory again, but he still couldn't pull out anything specific.

It was a mystery, he thought, but a mystery that he hopefully had plenty of time to solve. 

And so he thought about something different.

*-*

It had been the morning when the first rocket had flung itself into the air and showered the fleet with sparks. At once every man and woman was tense, many of them not knowing the meaning of it but sensing it all the same. They crowded to their normal stations, and were ready the following commands to move came. Black's navy was on the move.

All day it sailed, so long that just before lunch many were wondering if they would ever sight their prey. But those with experience of the sea just waited, content to wallow in the peace for as long as they could.

It was the 'Yellow Swift' who first saw them, their captain peering out of a spyglass at the blank horizon. Then they saw the swiftly moving brown dot and they knew, and soon the shout was going from deck to deck. At once all tiredness or weariness was forgotten, the thrill of the chase surging through them.

To an impartial observer it might have seemed have a long pause while the two collections of ships moved closer together, but those who were knew the truth and the instant that it seemed at the time. All of them in their heads (or some discussing) were working out the two important times. The length until they would meet and the length until they would be range of each other. 

On Hail's flagship, commonly known as 'Lain's Pride' or now in it's more infamous days more simply just the 'Pride', the mood was slightly more sombre. They had all heard of Black's legendary brigand by now, and if they had not already been part of so many amazing victories they would have already abandoned the ships.

Dayla was slowly polishing her swords, getting ready for her part in the battle. She was quiet nowadays, put back slightly by the way that Hail now seemed to ignore her. Part of her said that Hail was too busy for friends among the junior ranks anymore, but that was never enough to quieten it's opposite half. She was still worried about her former friend, the nervous girl she had once known being completely disappeared. And she wasn't too happy by its seemingly inhuman replacement.

When her swords were as good as she would get them she climbed up and out onto the deck. There were some pirates there, doing the normal sailing tasks or just watching but the majority were still huddled down below. Lain Tarn was at the very end of the ship, peering out through her small brown instrument at the coming attackers.

Gradually the rest of the pirates moved onto the deck and started to watch the now more visible than ever fleet. It seemed like a gigantic black plague washing over the sea, no end to it in sight. Calm the members on Hail's ship, some may have called it too calm as they silently watch the Swift come closer.

Lain's head nodded ever so slightly but every hand on deck caught the movement. In an instant they moved to their personal positions, and the soon the deck had changed from an unruly rabble to an organised war machine. Still the pirates waited; still none of them smiled, even though they were so close to the glory of battle.

The first cannon ball crashed into the sea on the right of the Pride and that was all the signal that was needed. A terrifyingly vivid shout swept over the deck and now it was the turn of the Swift's crew to be slightly weary. The shock seemed to hold them still for just that second too long. And then the cannons roared – from every deck a roaring ball of hope was flung out.

The Swift was battered, hit on every side and soon enough was sinking down into the depths ocean, now just a perilous obstacle to the crowd behind that was trying to get through. The attack was begun and the first victory was Hail's.

*-*

"Please... We must be able to come to some kind of agreement."

Harsh faces, frozen eyes, unwavering glares. Previous friends crowding around him and revealing their true colours. He knew it was no good begging, he'd been begging for mercy for the last ten months and nothing had come of it. Every day they had become more determined, and more stuck in their cruel outdated ways.

"You must leave the child," they would say, "with you he will never gain his mastership."

Which would only start Rein's mind arguing again as it endlessly tried to decide what was right. Part of it _knew _that he could not hinder the boy; that it was against his and the world's nature. But then there was that side that was constantly nagging against him, the side that he sometimes wandered if it was an infection of the Xi.

"I'm sorry Rein," the supposed well-wisher would always start. "But you can't guarantee us that it won't happen again and well... Well you know we can't allow that."

Guarantee? Guarantee! Did they think that he had wanted to let that wolf grasp control for that moment? Did they think that since then he hadn't put greater watch on it than ever? Of course they didn't, they just thought of distant and bleak possibilities. But then, should he blame them for being frightened of what still haunted him?

That summer day, now so long ago yet still fresh, came back from his memory. The pleasant gentle sun tickling the back of the boy's neck worming its way into his consciousness. Pleasant it had been maybe, but still distracting, as the boy tried to balance the two tall staffs on his hands. He was confident now, confident enough to practise by the river and not worry about dropping them in. Rein didn't think that the confidence was misplaced either – the boy was getting better every day.

In fact for a few days then, Rein had started to be drawing back. The boy of course resisted the strength and experience being pulled back from his hands, but Rein needed to make sure the boy could perform his skills without Rein's help. But it had to be slow, slow and gradual so that he became used to standing on his own.

So this day Rein had started to pull away, before rushing back to stable the boy's hands as they shook with nervousness. Finally he left the boy completely on his own for a moment before he came back. Pleasingly, the boy responded well and seemed almost not to notice. Encouraged, Rein drew back and counted to five. It was hard to ignore the boy's almost whimpering for help but he was used to it. Two, three, four...

And then the wolf took its chance and rushed in to take over. The boy gasped for a moment at the intruder, and then intrigued, entertained him for a while. Shocked, Rein realised what a mistake hesitating for even a moment had been. He tried to fight back for control, but it was already too late.

The staff crashed into the water, but that was the least of anyone's worries. The wolf was not used to a human body and its normal instincts cruelly treated the form. The boy's bones tore against each other and scratched his skin while his blood was pumped too fast and too hard. Red lines in a painful system were appearing over his body and the pupils in his eyes almost seemed to be springing apart.

"Sir!"

No... No... Rein cursed with every fibre as he saw the young servant appear. Sheff had been with them but a few short weeks. In his hands was carried a tray covered with refreshments. That was the first thing to go clattering onto the floor. But the servant was too terrified to run.

With a bound the wolf spirit launched itself up at the waiting victim and eagerly began. Already now claw–like fingernails were tearing against Sheff's soft flesh and the mouth was also coming in close. First it bit off an ear whole, but the flesh only seemed to enrage rather than calm. The fingers dug further and further into the eyes while the mouth began working ever downward. To Rein it all seemed to blur into nothing.

"Leave!"

Rein knew not how many minutes later it was before the so lovely command came. But he made sure he did not waste the moment of shock it gave the wolf, and he made sure that it was enough. Then his eyes travelled for a moment to the white face that had given him the opportunity to grasp back control. There was shock and disgust in it but still some power. But whether it was for him or whether it was for the boy himself, he had to turn to face the corpse one last time. And only then did he allow their body to fall down into a welcome faint.

Yes, in the months that followed the Xi did try to get rid of the wolf alone, but even their wisdom could find no way to separate him and it. Worse they realised that Rein had entered this boy too young, far too young. Their minds were growing too close, and soon there would be no way of separating them. 

And so now as they tried to push him out they were surrounding him, still trying to reassure him that this was the only way to ensure safety for the future. Their eyes were closed, their minds concentrating on what they needed to do but there was no way he could escape. He was busy calming the boy, calming him as the boy shook so hard. Rein had not felt him like this since he had recovered from the injuries the wolf had done. The boy was more scared than Rein had ever known him. None of the Xi had bothered to ask the boy whether he wanted to be separated.

"Have you no respect for the one who taught you all?" he asked them, but they made no sign of hearing. Instead they chanted quicker, and louder, and then Rein finally felt some effect. At the moment it was just slight nausea, but it was growing, and it was growing quickly until he began to wonder if it would ever end.

"Go," Darius finally commanded.

And Rein finally did want to go. He longed to go, he wished to go, his whole being screamed to go. But still the nausea built up and still his torture continued. He tried every thing he could think of, but nothing would let him go. And then he realised, the boy was still holding unto him – holding onto him with a grip that would never end. But Rein couldn't return the favour any longer.

"Bren," he said quietly, except his speaking was silent to anyone else. But the boy would hear him, as he had done since he was three years of age. 

"Bren."

Again, quietly and softly he asked while his whole body felt like it was being wretched apart. For a moment the boy let go but then he quickly changed his mind and tried to hold on again. Yet it was too late for changing his mind, and in that instant he let go Rein was torn from him and hurled again into the oblivion of nothingness.

And then Link woke up.

*-*

Another ship from Black's navy swung near to Hail's ship and fired off several cannon rounds. Dayla just smiled as its attacks inevitably hit the water instead of them. Their sister ship, the 'Red Flame' came quickly to their defence and fired out its own cannons at the opposing ship. Not that the Pride wasn't already giving out as good as it got. 

2 cannon balls had hit the 'Red Flame' so far, but already on its first sweep ten of its shots had hit the enemy ship and in several places the ship was up in flames. Fire is any sailor's worst enemy and already the enemy was trying to put out the flames. Many of the people normally manning the cannons had to leave their places to help.

A young pirate on Dayla's left fired off her shot directly into a crowd of people as they swarmed towards a fire. He was made of stronger stuff than her, and kept his gaze firm as their enemies died. And for an added bonus they soon found out why they had been trying to defend that area: it must have been their gunpowder store. The resulting explosion left the ship a black hulk and the surrounding area a mess of litter. Score another to Hail.

The Flame turned to take 3 ships that were charging in from the west. The Pride on their right had already got a few of their own. Behind her, Dayla heard the legions of Xi that Hail had hired preparing for battle. As Dayla helped to send another ship to a watery grave one legion of Xi dived into the water and swam towards a fleet of ten ships that was still a way off.

"Day!" shouted the cocky Gerudo on the left, "I think I've found their store!"

Dayla turned her cannon and spotted where the Gerudo was aiming. Letting her crew load the cannon she quickly began to judge the right angle. When the moment was ready she let loose and to her amazement hit the ship in the exactly the right place. She didn't have time to see it explode. 

The Pride was already charging across to help the Flame, which was having a hard time with a giant black ship. Together they easily saw it off. As Dayla was cheering over their victory over the 'Dark Night' another crashing boom came over the horizon. A huge mushroom cloud came from the crowd of 10 ships that the Xi had decided to visit. Obviously the sabotage plan was working.

But she had no time to celebrate that victory. The main crowd of 30 ships was still charging toward them with Black's ship at their head. The Pride and Flame decided to meet them halfway. Dayla waited until her cannons were in range and then helped the others load her cannon herself. They had to try to get as many of these ships down quickly as possible.The Gerudo on her left succeeded in giving terrible damage to two ships and Day herself helped. But she had always known that soon she would have to give up her cannon and a nearby red rocket from the Flame only confirmed it to her. She was about to follow the Xi's example. 

Grabbing her two swords and throwing them into their sheathes she ran over to the side off the ship. For a moment she looked back at her old homes and friends – but then she was diving down into the deep ocean below. The battle was about to get a lot more personal.

*-*

Link looked out of the window and sighed happily. He still felt strange but life was a precious thing indeed. He may not remember anything before he had first spoken to Nala but he could still appreciate so much more. He knew so little about himself that it was extraordinary. And yet he knew that all those facts were still somewhere in his memory. Every night he would dream through new memories and new lives, and every morning he would have enough to consider to last him a whole day.

He heard a slight rustle of clothing behind him and he spun quickly around on his left foot. A figure in black was behind him, and it was brandishing two large swords. Link drew his own and blocked as the laughing figure thrust its two swords down towards him.

The figure pulled up the swords again and did a quick spin with them. Link blocked one and ducked the other.

'It' leaped in a somersault over him and again thrust one of its swords, this time from behind. Link again dodged, but at the same time thrust his hand forward and grabbed one of It's wrists. In reaction It jumped and pulled it's feet up towards Link's head. Link, once again ducked and dodged under them and then used the handle of his sword to flip it's body down flat onto the floor. The black cover which was hiding 'it's' face fell off to reveal Tai's smiling, still laughing face.

"Not good enough," taunted Link, smiling himself.

Getting to her feet, Tai replied, "You were lucky." 

"Besides," she added, "you can't touch me in my strong point."

"Which is?" enquired Link.

"Archery," answered Tai, drawing a bow and firing an arrow through the window to prove it. The arrow hit the centre of an Imperial Trade Centre flag on the opposite wall.

"Vandalism! Whatever next," Link jokingly reproached.

Tai glared at him, and then challenged, "Try to match that!"

Silently, Link lifted his own bow and quickly fired off three arrows. When they had all connected with the flag they formed a perfect triangle around Tai's own.

Tai glared at him again, and then shot out another four arrows quickly into the flag. When Link saw where they had hit, and more importantly what shape they had formed he was speechless for a few seconds.

"How... How..." he started, "Did you know what the Triforce looked like?"

She was silent herself. She had been aiming to form a rough square around Link's triangle. But at the last moment something had made her aim her arrows in a slightly different direction. She was shocked, and then said for some reason which later she was not sure about, "What's the Triforce?"

As Link stared sharply at her she continued hurriedly, "I mean... it's just that shape on your shield isn't it?"

Link still didn't look quite convinced, but she thought that he was convinced enough. And then she became rapidly horrified; she had always made it a personal point of honour that she never lied. 

Link suddenly looked sharply at her again. He was remembering something from a dream a few nights ago...

"Get out of there!" he suddenly shouted.

"Go!" he almost screamed.

"What?" She stared at him.

"Just go..." he paused trying to remember a name...

"...Rein, just go!"

A laugh echoed from Tai's lips and she found to her horror that they were forming words and yet it was not she that was controlling them.

"Well done!" echoed the voice. "How did you figure me out?"

Link paused, breathing heavily, trying to draw all his senses together. "You... you effect how people look and behave... only slightly... but..."

"Oh," said Rein's voice realising, "and I suppose you must have dreamt through one of my memories because of your _death_. I wonder how many other secrets you know..."

"Why don't you just die!" shouted Link angrily, "you've lived a thousand years longer than everyone else, isn't that enough!"

"Believe it or not," replied Rein coolly, "I have not actually discovered any way of being killed yet. I am pure spirit. I do not even have the power of making myself solid like other ghosts seem able to. And so no solid or mortal or even real weapon can kill me. I am (as you must know) to all extents and purposes, immortal. Thankfully for you I've had enough experience of life not to be offended quickly."

"How..." started Link.

"...did I get in this body?" finished Rein. "A fairly long story but to put it simply the Xi wanted to get rid of me too eventually. They wanted to pass my Xi Master's powers down to someone else. And so they tricked me into the body of a bird, used all their powers to keep the bird alive so I could not escape and then they locked me into the room in which your friend found me. I can't leave this girl without killing her."

Link was taken aback. "Then why did you draw the Triforce?"

"Because it is the answer," said Bren loudly as he entered the room. "As much as we have tried to hide it the truth soon became obvious that somehow the Xi's power comes from Hyrule. And thus the Triforce can control any Xi in any way possible, even only spirit Xi. And for some reason he thinks you know where the Triforce is."

"Very clever," complemented Rein, "I am glad to see that you have not deteriorated in brain power since I left you."

Link looked at Bren questioningly.

"He was my former master," admitted Bren. "Now Link, command him to be gone and maybe he will."

Link took a deep breath and stated, "I, Link, Hero of Time, command you Rein to leave that innocent body."

Nothing happened. Link tried again, and this time the words seemed to kind of flow out of him by themselves. 

"I, Link of Hyrule, by the power of the Triforce of Courage, command thee Rein, former Master of the Xiam Kalendium to leave that entrapped body and to let the innocent spirit be free."

As soon as he had started Link felt the power building up in his body and when he stretched out his hand he could feel the power leaking out of it. Then a small ever-changing shape, which could only be seen, by the way it made the air shimmer left Tai's body and flew out through the air.

Directly into Bren. Link dropped his hand, shocked for an instant.

"Do not bother trying to separate us," called out Rein's voice, this time from Bren's body, "we were once bonded before and trying to separate us again will be impossible.

Bren sadly agreed. "It took all the remaining Xis to separate us before and many of them have sadly departed. We will be together till my death. I am afraid even now our spirits have mixed so strongly that if heleft I would be dragged with him."

Link nodded, dumbfounded for a second, and then spotting Tai collapsed on the floor he ran over to where Rein had left her. Silently Bren and Rein, together once more, left the room.

*-*

Dayla always stayed underwater as she swam; it was the only way not to venture into the line of fire. For now she was following a person she recognised as from her own group who was steadily moving on in front of her. She saw the girl reach a rope on the side of a ship and clamber onto it and so she quickly increased the rate of her strokes to catch up.

When she broke the surface of the water she risked a glance around her, and stared in bewilderment at the countless people doing the same as her and climbing up enemy ship's sides. She reached the top, swung over the wall and drew her sword at the same time. An old man looking in the opposite direction nearby. She ran over to him before anyone else could reach her and with one quick swipe of the sword killed him. She turned to see her next victim only to see that there was no one left on the deck. Then she spotted the girl from her team once more diving over the side of the ship and back into the sea.

Dayla followed her, and soon was breaking into the cool water herself. For a moment she just treaded water and let her breath calm down. Then the next ship beckoned and she was off under the water once more. 

The water was safe, but above the battle continued to rage.


	12. Twelve

****

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Author's note: The new chaptering system was the main delay behind this chapter – hopefully everything is sorted out as it should be now. Email me (at [jon@zlda.com][1]) if it isn't. Anyway, doesn't the new chaptering thing actually kind of invalidate your point StarDragon? Till next week.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is told that before the Nuran church will help her find other survivors from Hyrule she must do an undercover mission for them, and join up in **Lain Tarn**'s crew as a pirate. She is given the new name of **Hail** as a joke, as Hail is the name of a mythical pirate queen who will come before the end of the world. However, after she saves the ship, the crew starts a mutiny and makes her captain. She finds that she can no longer remember about Zelda or anything that happened before she was Hail. She is given by a man some of the explosive material ever discovered, **Calalite**.

But others are conspiring against her, and in particular **Oliver Black** is planning to lead a massive coalition of the other pirates against her to stop he ever growing domination of the sea. After a meeting (during which he especially manages to impress them by killing an actor he had hired to pretend to be an assassin sent from the Actor's Guild) he manages to recruit enough comrades to set his ideas in motion. 

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming and also the emergence of a mysterious pirate queen called Hail are all part of a prophecy. This prophecy predicts that the world will come to an end in a time called the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Link meets an Xi calling herself **Tanya** and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

Black's forces approach Hail's although he decides to leave them before the battle begins after learning their position from his spy on board Hail's ship – Lain Tarn. The two forces meet in a colossal battle, but at least for the moment Hail seems to get the better of it.

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. 

He awakes after one of these dreams to be told by Tanya that her real and original name was Tai. He continues to dream about Rein and later realises that his spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again...

****

Twelve

Lain Tarn could not believe Hail's luck. Nearly every shot from the Pride and the Flame seemed almost destined to hit their targets perfectly while the enemy had trouble of aiming within five metres of them. At this rate Hail might even win the battle. Not that it seemed that she cared. She must have already anticipated her victory as for the last few hours she had not left her room.

Lain wondered if she was already planning the next battle right at this moment. Surely it couldn't hurt to just see how she was and what she was plotting. Maybe Lain could learn something about Hail's ways and means.

Motioning to another Gerudo to take charge Lain walked across to the wooden door of Hail's cabin and stopped for a moment by to listen in. She could hear nothing, but with Hail that meant nothing, and so she knocked first. When she heard no answer, she took a deep breath in (for Hail was known to be unpredictable at the best of times) and entered. There was just a body lying the bed, face down and seemingly sleeping. So why couldn't she still hear any breathing? Lain walked curiously forward at first, and then as an awful idea struck she sprinted over to the bed and threw the covers off it. The body was just a few neatly arranged cushions under the cover.

Her face was covered in horror as total realisation hit her mind.

"She..."

*-*

At last Black's own flag ship was drawn into the battle and came crashing through the waves towards the Pride. It was a ship of the type that had not been seen commonly on the seas for many generations, a towering vessel which could easily hold over a hundred men. It exuded confidence, and despite the failure of their allies and the absence of their captain, no man or woman or that galleon was afraid.

Its first attack was arguably the most lethal; a hidden troop of Xis springing off the side of it and towards Hail's fleet. But its second was more devastating, and this time not every one of that rain of cannon shot could miss. Thrice, four times the Pride was hit, and each shot dented it and its confidence badly.

Fear returned to Hail's troops and they madly tried to steer away from that awesome power and to douse the resulting fires when they should have attacked with all they had. And worse of all, they dared to ignore the oncoming Xi. 

Even as they put out the flames the Xi swung over the side of the deck and let loose with their weapons. Some of the pirates ran to fight them off, but it was a useless gesture. To the Xi, they could have been children their attacks were so ineffective. For a full 30 seconds the Xi continued their slaughter, and then, as if from some ordained signal they leapt back into the seas.

A moment later and another torrent of cannon fire was let loose onto the ship, and this time it was damaged even more severely. To their left the 'Red Flame' had been trying to help, but she herself was now being assaulted by two of Black's navy. 

But now Black's flag ship was getting some of its own medicine. Hail's Xi had returned, and they were bent on revenge. Black's forces had not been as short-sighted as to leave their ship totally undefended and their were still some Xi waiting on it. Soon the two groups were fighting across the breadth of the ship, and everywhere the pirates tried to dive out of its way. But not all of them were successful, and in particular, one of the men aiming a cannon was killed. 

Behind him was a seventeen year old boy, and he eagerly stepped forward to take over. For a full minute he played around with its direction, until it was as he wanted it exactly. Then he took in a deep breath, and waited for that all important command. Eventually, the invading Xi were defeated and the ship was back under control, and then the command came.

His shot was better than he could have ever dreamed of, in aim at least. Beautifully it arced across the sky and down unto the already weakened deck. There it easily penetrated and continued its aggressive descent. It broke through one more floor but there was stopped sharp by a barrel. A barrel of gun powder.

A smile widened on his face, a good emotion to express, especially as it would be the one he died with. He watched in delight as the ship blew itself apart into a thousand flying pieces, and he joined in with the general cheer.

One, two, three. In the olden days that had always been the count under everyone's breath at an explosion, the count which ensured safety. But those under Black were too young to remember such lore and some even turned before the count would have been up.

For the explosion of the 'Pride' was but the spark before the fire, the breeze before the gale. Out of the explosion came a new sphere of destruction and this one travelled almost as fast as the light which showed it. Where it travelled only dust and steam remained, and even those not in high quantities. It grew, and grew, and soon the 'Red Flame' and Black's front line were absorbed into the funeral pyre.

Those who were on the further away ships had a few moments before it hit, and some of them had the reactions enough to dive into the sea and try to escape. But it was futile and only led to their death taking place while they were still in mid air. Many bowed their eyes and prayed, for still they did not know that their god was a prisoner. 

A small island was located a few miles away, and on it lived a modest community. Many of them could not believe their eyes at that moment, for it seemed that there was not just one sun up above, but one even stronger down below. Those who looked too close regretted it, for from that day they would never again be able to see again 

They who looked after the sun had gone could almost not believe it. Where before had been a fleet, now was just a boiling sea and a dreadful black smog. There was no sign that any human had ever existed there.

Long ago Calalite had started a war, and now it had ended one.

*-*

The streets of Asreal were mostly empty as Oliver Black walked through them. Now was the time for drawing back and contemplating his next move. He was in no hurry, his enemies and friends alike thought that he was dead. He may have lost a battle, but he was convinced he could still win a war. He may have lost 50 ships, but that was only for the better in many ways. Once he had beaten Hail there would be no competition left. He would become King of the Seas. There were always other less direct ways of dealing with her.

Still plotting, he didn't notice the figure creeping up under the cover of the setting sun or even the weapon it drew. Only when it was too late did he discover the blade that was now struck through his chest. Silently, he sank to the floor, not quite believing the blood that was pouring from his chest. His eyes looked upwards for one last time and he saw the hated figure of a Xi walking away.

Behind her there was a piece of paper dropped and Black with his last strength crept slowly towards it and clutched the note with a still responding hand, his body so absorbed that it did not even notice the ground moving.

It read simply:

'The Actor's Guild.'

*-*

Link found himself lying on the floor as the earth shook. Quietly he rubbed his eyes, stood up, and instinctively reached for his sword. It was happening again... Please, let it not happen again.

Putting on a old tunic and the belt he always wore, he judged his easiest way to escape.

A beam of timber from the roof fell down behind him, and a few seconds later the doorway collapsed, making up his mind. Grabbing a rope from his belt he tied a strong knot around the legs of one of the beds, barely dodging the falling masonry as he did so. He pulled sharply on the rope to test the knot, and then looped it around his hands. Finally, he ran across to the open window and almost leapt out of it, holding tightly onto the rope.

His window was around 100 metres above the ground level, but his rope was only around 30 metres long. The rope stopped him falling with a jolt, and grabbing his Big Goron sword, he thrust it into the wall. He had two ropes of the same size left and knotting their ends together, he placed the rope in a loop around the sword, and let himself drop again. This time when the rope stopped he was a terrifying 15 metres high and to his horror he had no choice but to jump down onto the threatening stone below. He fell roughly down on his legs, gasping at the shock. Somehow he managed to stay standing, although the pain was already racing upwards from his feet. He hobbled forward, already knowing that his left leg was broken, and that he had lost his treasured sword.

As he stood there huge drops of rain fell from the dark clouds in the sky to accompany a now familiar bolt of lightning. He scanning the near area for a safe place to shelter but instead his eyes glanced onto a figure high above. It was steadily climbing down the wall of the left wing of the Glass Temple, a tiny size compared to height of the main temple to be sure and one that was made out of stone bricks, but it was still a next to impossible climb. Link could see no convenient cracks and the gaps in between the bricks a foot would hardly have been able to get into. But this figure was managing it, and even though they were coming closer and closer Link could still not tell how they were doing it. 

It was climbing down at the rate of around a metre a second, and after watching the figure for a few moments, spellbound, Link saw it reach his own sword. The figure grabbed it out of the wall and then threw it strongly downwards. After an instant Link realised to his shock that it was aimed right at him. His legs tried to jump away, but they still rebelled and he knew that it would be too late...

It was – or would have been if his eyes had not misjudged the sword's target. It fell harmlessly onto the ground right before him. Dazedly, Link picked up, now not only amazed by the climbing, but also by the strength and aim. The night was dark, and it was only when the lightning crashed down nearby that Link could see the person's flowing hair. The figure dropped from a height twice as high as he had done, but still managed not to flinch at impact. As it ran towards him, he saw who it was.

"How?" he asked, amazed.

Tai replied, "I'm an Xi."

A huge crash interrupted their conversation, and they spun around to see what had happened. But whatever in that moment as they span they might have thought, they would never have been able to guess the truth.

The lightning had crashed right into the peak of a distant mountain, completely obliterating its peak and sending out a hail of rubble and fire. From that hellish light Link could just make out a huge ominous dark cloud swarming out of the mountain, and collecting as in a ring around it. 

A ring around a mountain? His head tripped up over the words and something in his head longed to be set free. He knew not whether it was his own or another's memory but whatever the truth he tried to pursue it. And his hunt was succeeding, for images were floating in his head, of another mountain and a small village under it. Of a monstrous golden beast who's solemnity was in the process of being destroyed beyond repair by a ridiculous dance. And of a song, a vibrant and fresh song taught to him by...

"They're coming."

The involuntary gasp turned into words abruptly ended his chase and his focus was once again thrust upon the far off cloud. The mist around it was no longer encircling, but oncoming and its very sight seemed to welcome despair and loathing. For a strange moment in time the two on the street were alike with the rest of the city and the district in that their eyes were only looking for that terrible smoke.

From sight it should be sickly slow, but even with his limited geography Link knew that the violated peak was at least 20 miles away and that the dark cloud had already covered half of that distance. The next half was no slower and soon they knew would know of its charge into the city.

But after that few seconds had gone by they could hear where it had hit, and hear as it approached by the scream it let loose. It was a scream that one never forgets – that is not to haunt one in nightmares but always in day, always to return when it was finally thought to be conquered. 

To Link it seemed like a thousand voices at once desperate and helpless to pain but also angry and begging, asking him again and again why he did not help. It made him both want to run to aid, but more, much more, want to turn and flee, and flee till his legs could not be dragged along any longer.

To Tai it was young, old, but always at the front her mother and her victims, and only then did she realise how lenient her K'Tan had been. It was Ganon's smooth voice, and even her own grovelling. But most of all it was a harsh laugh, telling her to run to her god and to see if she could protect her better than she had done to them. And at the back there was one last sound, the sound of Link's shock when he knew her truth.

If it could be said to have a word in it, it would be a low moan of 'Distile', a reminder of the thing that no one would ever be able to doubt the coming of again. It was a clear sign – it has come, and it will not stop for you or anyone else..

The cloud had seemed to disappear into just a dark murk, but the terror that had been inside it had done a change to the opposite and become bright and defined. Link saw them first, taking the form of two huge birds flying down the now wrecked street. It was their cruel grin and hooked beak that he remember more so than their skin, even though that was the most terrible thing about them. For these creatures did not even have the weakness of flesh, and instead their body was of cold steel. Liquid steel, and fluid for these things could never be slow, but still strong as any metal. The birds swooped closer to the ground and then they revealed the true extent of themselves, for their shapes flowed instead into that of two warriors.

And these warriors were worse than the birds, for even in their shape alone they were a mockery of the human body, a smooth unstoppable giant that begged to be compared to their soft and malleable skin. The eyes did not even give the pleasure of glowing, instead remaining dull but sharp, pinpricks that led into nowhere but an eternal winter.

Seemingly uselessly Tai drew her weapons and sprinted at them, as it was the only thing that she could do. Her first blade was easily blocked by one of the warrior's own (if it could be called blade, for it grew out of his own hand) and similarly with the left. But still she fought on, knowing that if she stopped that her whole life would end and be in vain. 

The other ignored her and ran over to the green warrior in front of him. Drawing his sword weakly, Link could still feel the pain running through his leg. His opponent lifted his weapon and swung it powerfully at Link, who could only lift his own sword feebly in protest. It span out of his hands and Link dropped to the floor, the enemy's strike causing a deep scar on his chest.

Still Tai fought on, bravely defending against an enemy twice her strength. Each time she blocked one of his attacks her very bones shuddered and she despaired of going on. Her eyes glanced momentarily at her fallen friend and the distraction cost her dearly, but still she struggled on, even as her hand seemed to come to a stop. She had no way to help Link but she couldn't help knowing that it was over for him.

And the other should have known it too as he lay on the cold stone, his breath roughly forcing itself in and out of him. Even as his opponent slid ever closer he flung his way through his limited memory, desperate for some help. Maybe one day before the first shake of the ground he would have known some way, but now his heart was empty.

One sword thrust was stronger than the rest and Tai found herself involuntarily swept off her feet. There she lay also, and she could not find the strength to rise. But then ever as she prepared for the end she felt something warm beside her, a gentle nuzzle from a friend she had long forgotten. The horse she had ridden on to Asreal had come to find its mistress, and as it seemed, to die with her. She smiled as the creature gently neighed. 

"Epona." 

Link's mind could see her now, her deep, dark and warm eyes, a nice thing to die remembering. If only those eyes wouldn't keep distracting him and glancing upwards. Finally he gave in, even as a sword was hurtling towards him and he looked up. And there, still marked high on the wall it fluttered bravely.

Deep, deeper than even his heart, within him Link felt something stir. And then a gigantic force burst out of it, like a river finally breaking its dam. It smashed its way out of his body and soared upwards from his chest into the metal blackness above. 

It was a golden beam of hope, and it effortlessly tore through the iron enemy and into the heavens above. His chest and leg healed Link stared up at the mist where his should be killer had been and where now only gold rose in a beacon against the stars. 

In an instant it was answered, and galloping down from the sky came a fierce animal, it too made of gold. It flew down to the street where Tai and her horse were fighting, and only then could Link make out that it was of that kind as well. But already it was charging, through another dissolved foe and then down the road ahead. This Epona (for her it had been) of light sprinted through the city and where it advanced the dark retreated .

A dark cloud again it was, and a cloud racing backwards through the sky, a cloud no longer terrifying but terrified. It reached its mountain, and crept back in, trying to hide from that at its tail. Then the rocks that had flew out from the mountain top returned, and it was rebuilt until it was a stronger prison than it had even been before. A bright glow and then the horse was gone, but so was the dark. 

Almost not surprised Link accepted the brown horse now standing beside him, almost a mirror of that by Tai. And then he noticed the back of his wrist. A symbol had appeared on it, and it was shining brightly. 

The Triforce.

END OF BOOK ONE

   [1]: mailto:jon@zlda.com



	13. Thirteen

****

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Author's note: Blame unlucky chapter thirteen for this taking so long... Or more likely blame me – but hey, its here now. As usual email me at [jon@zlda.com][1] if there is any comments. And seeing as we're starting Book Two now, even if you read up to "End of Book One" and the Sadia's attack in the last chapter it might be an idea to read the Story so far. (Unless of course you're just reading straight on from Twelve in which case you should be alright)

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the Sadia – is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

But for how long?

****

BOOK TWO

****

Kaze was surprised at the crowds that still were present in Asreal. He had expected devastation, terror and anarchy and instead found roughly the same people and city, if with a slight edge. To the casual observer this city could have just gone through another busy market season. A slightly better observation would have noticed the piles of rubble on the ground, the half broken roof of the ancient temple that loomed in the horizon and a slightly quicker step to people's walk. A clever observer might even have noticed the frequent glances by the town's guards to the east and to the peak that lay there.

But he was above a clever observer; he had to be the best. It was job to spot things and to do so while staying unnoticed. Nothing went on in this town without him reporting it. He had seen the events over the last few days – the Xi losing their dignity enough to embark on a rooftop chase, the small armed force that had set off a few days to somewhere in the west, and most of all the complete absence of the priests. Which could mean only one thing; they were staying cooped up in the church and they were planning something.

He would find out what it was later – first he had another job to do. It involved, as so much had in the last days, the Sadia's attack. More to the point; its retreat. The rumours were flying across the country and talk ranged as far as a renegade Xi Master being the saviour, or even Nura herself taking form and saving them. The more enlightened reckoned that it was probably something to do with the Distile. 

The rumour most agreed upon about this saviour was that just at the point before the Sadia retreated a golden pillar of light was seen, with its origination normally agreed on as near the Glass Temple. He was sceptical – a tower of power reaching to the heavens didn't exactly sound likely. But then again, neither did the Sadia being released only to get trapped again in a matter of minutes.

Then there was the talk of the golden horse that had galloped across and through the sky – more gold it seemed. And that was a unusual colour in Nurai; typically the power released there was white. The exception being of course the dark power that had been vanished so long ago. But there was a place where gold was common, and where its power was feared.

Hyrule. 

If the doors to that place had really been reopened then Kaze would be ready. Maybe it would help him fulfil his destiny. For he was Kaze, warrior of the Kalen and prophesised finder of the King. Yes, he could feel it – his time was, at last, finally coming. 

Thirteen

Nala slowly dismounted from his halted horse and climbed the last few steps of the slope that his force had been ascending. His action was a catalyst, and soon his two hundred horses were relieved off their two hundred human cargoes. The sun was strong at this time of the day, and he was forced to cover his eyes as he stared out. In front of him the grassy plains ended, and the danger began. 

In the shade where the mountain and the pasture met a seemingly derelict building still stood, its foundations only lightly touched by time's relentless attack. This was one of the three Temples of the Crescent, an odd name for the ultimate prisons of evil. They had not always been this way, as Nura's symbol in the title implied. Once they had been good, but somehow the corruption had been set in. The walls might have been white once, but now were dark and damp, and half of the slot windows had been boarded up. Behind them evil exuded its presence and Nala had no doubt of the many horrors lurked there. In front of the whole derelict stone structure even the grass refused to grow.

"Driana and our camp is just over there," he called out back to the brigade. A mock cheer went up from his tired force in relief, and half sprinted up the last stretch up to where he stood. They would camp themselves here for the night, to allow themselves to rest and recuperate for the morning. He would not have dared to station himself any nearer; as it was here was too close to the entrance of that dark domain, and he did not expect a restful night.

The army had been riding almost non-stop for three days on its quest to reach Drien Mount, and the Golden Temple of the Crescent beneath it. The locals had been for weeks reporting more disappearances and strange attacks at night, and so it seemed for some reason that the place had been reactivated. There was only one likely reason why this would have happened - once again it must be holding prisoners, and the most likely suspect for those prisoners were the absent sages. 

Nala had been chosen to lead the main party, and plan their attack. The church considered him one of the most knowledgeable on the whole subject, perhaps even more so than Link after his memory loss. The church had decide to split their main task forces into two groups and each would need all the information they could get. Reluctantly then, Link and Nala had split, each to assist with one group.

Personally, Nala wished that he was back in Asreal with the Council of Priests, as they continued to discuss the latest attack by the Sadia, and how it had been so suddenly driven back by Link. He knew that the arguments were still raging and that they would still do so for days. One does not serve a lifetime in the church without getting to know its ways.

The Sadia were long known to the church, and long before had been a constant fear. They were dreadful and mystical warriors created by Nura herself. According to the teachings they were made to test her people and their limits. Only the best of the Nuran warriors could have fought them, and they ruled long ago in the glory days of the Xi and Kalen.

The prophecies spoke of nine wars that would rage over Nurai and the nine golden times that would be lived in-between them. The people would win three, lose three, and the final collection were undecided. The final war of the Sadia and the Xi had left them trapped in their mountain prison and Nala and the rest of Nurai had assumed they were history. The Xi Masters power may be reduced but it still held, and that should have been it. They were legends, myths from the times of the King and the Kalen, and should have been left there.

And now they had been reawaken, trapped, but still hungry with desire. And Nala couldn't help wondering how many other of Nurai's personal demons would return.

*-*

"The Distile can no longer be denied," argued Raymus, "the earthquakes and the reawakening of the Sadia prove that we have reached the end. And..."

He faltered. The rest of the priests in the room knew exactly what point he was going to raise but none of them had dared speak about it. 

For even the most evil creatures in Nura's land had been stopped by Link unconsciously evoking his Triforce's power. And the knowledge that the Triforce controlled all was truly terrifying. It implied Hyrule's superiority over Nurai; the power of the three over the crescent.

If the Triforce had found to be no more than three wooden blocks painted yellow it could hardly have more impact to Hyrule than this to Nurai. Every commandment, every philosophy had to be re-examined. And all of them were afraid that it pointed to what the Kalen had argued all along.

All of them were in a state of shock. And none of them were quite sure what could be done. Link had tried to use the power of the Triforce again but now that the symbol had appeared on his wrist it was as if all it's power had been lost. As for where Link's horse had come from (and subsequently disappeared to) no one knew. Some argued that the horse was a symbol for Link's eternal protector and friend, the Triforce; others thought that the gods of Hyrule had sent her to him to save his life. But there was nothing in Nuran legend to compare to it.

While the priests argued in their newly taken over building (for the Glass Temple was lying half in ruins), Bren was thinking outside. He was strolling along the city wall arguing with Rein.

"Really Bren, I don't see why you took her on. Just because Tanya fell for her doesn't mean that you have to follow suit," Rein was stating.

"There's something special about her..." answered Bren, "I can feel it."

"Of course!" drawled Rein, "she's undoubtedly the 'child of wisdom' or whatever the prophecy calls it."

The phrase was apparently not unknown to Bren himself. "The child of wisdom! Why didn't you say? How do you know? Do you mean she has spoken to Nura herself?"

"I do," Rein confirmed in a bored tone, "but that's not all..."

"You mean the rest of the prophecies? The joining and the Revival? The...."

"Yes... quite, but I meant she comes from that other particular little place."

"Other place?"

"Yes... Hyrule, you know."

"She what?" Confusion in his tone, and for a moment Bren had to stop and lean on a convenient wall. An old woman stared at him suspiciously as she walked past.

"Came from Hyrule –, you'd be amazed at what I found in her mind..."

"Whose mind?" asked Link as he and Tai appeared from behind him.

"Oh look... It's Tai the Xi and her loyal servant Link the forgetter..."

"If you ever speak like that again..." Tai threatened.

Link, holding her back (and knowing that Rein would soon realise how worthless her attitude was to a bodiless spirit), asked, "Have you decided on our plan of attack yet?"

"I think, well know, that he decided to have us all go as together on our own. Won't that be nice?" answered Rein sarcastically.

Bren hurriedly interrupting said, "Most of the soldiers still here are busy with cleaning up the rubble or preventing panic."

"Then we might as well go now," suggested Link.

"Right," agreed Bren, "we'll meet at the city gates at dawn."

Tai nodded and she dropped slipped back over the wall, and then made her way back through the city. Link stayed for a few seconds longer to smile apologetically at Bren before turning to follow her.

And still the priest's debate raged on...

*-*

"First row, down, shield! Second row, up, fire! Second row, down, shield! First row, up, fire!"

Nala watched his monotonous caller scream his lungs out as the troops steadily moved forward. In front of them, but thankfully hidden by the rocky walls, a two-headed dragon was busy attacking them. It was the guardian of this place and only the most foolish would meet it on their own. The dragon's fire blast was powerful, and it was said that more than one blast of it could melt armour. Still, no creature alive was a match for a legion of the church's finest troops.

A weak screech came out of the dark – and Nala decided that it was time to launch his final attack. He signalled to the caller – "Charge!". 

The first five rows sprinted at the huge beast and hacked viciously forward with their blades. As Nala approached all he found was a black corpse was lying on the floor, but even that was enough to make him shake. He went behind it and there was the expected stone gateway. Behind here the prisoners of the Temple would be kept. To his surprise it was already opening, and out of the room behind it staggered two figures. An old man and a woman.

"Greetings," he began, "I am Nala, friend of Link and ambassador of the Nuran church."

"You freed us?" asked the old man, to which Nala nodded.

"I am Impa," the old woman stated, recovering a bit.

"Rauru, Sage of Light"

Nala shook hands with both of them and then said, "There is not much time and you are needed elsewhere. May I explain the situation on the way?"

Wearily the two sages nodded and were led out of the old dungeon.

*–*

Link did not feel quite comfortable in the loose white robe. He was sure that Tai was right, and that the garments were correct, but the untrained warrior was used only to his old tunic. He felt on show, and slightly exposed. When he stepped through into the area that had been designated as their training area he saw that Tai wore her own robe much more comfortably. She had obviously done this before.

"You are ready?"

The single question broke apart the silence and reverberated through the stone room. Link just nodded in reply, and clumsily began to copy the exercises that she was showing him. Her limbs seemed to flow so naturally in their movements that he despaired of copying her. He tried, but not hopefully, and he was not the only one to notice his lack of conviction. Tai frowned, and sped up her movements fourfold. 

"A bit slower?" Link's question also lacked faith, and in that it was right. No affirmative response was forthcoming, and instead came even quicker movements. Breathing heavily Link was forced to put his all into copying her. His focus was total enough that when she gradually slowed down he didn't notice.

After a few minutes Tai stopped, stepped backwards and nodded her head slightly. Recognising the symbols for a spar Link followed suit. Sure enough, Tai quickly swung her left hand towards him. Link blocked it gently. But even as his hand was outstretched Tai's right swung more viciously towards him. Hurriedly Link also blocked that. For a few seconds they stood together as if frozen, with both pairs of hands rising to meet each other.

"Use some initiative," Tai told him, and then shoved forward hard. Link stumbled, and just managed to avoid an even more embarrassing fall. He kept his distance and blocked when he could as Tai used an increasingly fast volley of strokes. All the time his mind was complaining and a voice wouldn't stop telling him that he wasn't right for this.

He was a boy brought up in a forest; not a trained warrior. Well, maybe that was ignoring a few little events. Like those few minor quests to save whole countries. Like his defeat of a couple of hundred vicious monsters. Still, he had never been able to or tried to fight hand to hand (at least as a human), and his every action felt embarrassingly slow and clumsy

Suddenly Tai brought here foot up in a powerful roundhouse kick. Caught off guard Link was thrown back several lengths. Groaning, he lifted himself up and tried to breathe. From the look on her face, Tai wasn't exactly sympathetic. Fine – he could show her. If she wanted him to use some initiative he would. 

Still resting against the wall were two wooden staffs. Unto these Link guessed that they were supposed to graduate to later. Too bad, he was bored and he wanted to raise the stakes already. A few steps back and one was in his hand (the other flying through the air to Tai – always keep it fair). Now he was in his element.

Step forward, drop to one knee and let the other staff smash down to his left. Swing own stick to her body and pull back as she countered. Finally a spin around to her unprotected back and he was done.

Even Tai was pushed forward she did a flip in the air to land properly on her feet again, and then pivoted around to face him. "Not bad," she said. "But you're not ready."

Link nodded. "That's why I have to do it this way." And then his weapon was moving again; trying from every angle to break her defence. And she replied; replied by blocking every possible thrust that he could think of and by attacking him when she could.

Finally she seemed to be tiring and so he took his chance. She swung viciously forward, making her balance vulnerable. He dropped backwards, easily dodging her stick and one–handedly whirled his own around behind and onto her back. Again she was pushed forwards, but this time he pushed her down with the stick. Almost instantly he was on top of it and slamming her to the ground. She spun in the air somehow to be facing up, but this only let him push the staff down to her throat. Finally he kneeled on her legs to stop her from kicking up. He had her pinned to the ground.

He smiled at her, and her frustrated face staring up at him. "I won."

"I let you."

Shrugging his soldiers he let her up and walked back out of the room.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

"To bed. Because the sun has kind of already set and did you forget the whole meet at dawn thing?"

Sighing, she picked up the deposited staffs and followed him out of the room.

   [1]: mailto:jon@zlda.com



	14. Fourteen

****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: For me that wasn't actually the long of a gap between chapters. But anyway, enjoy, read and (maybe) review.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the Sadia – is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Meanwhile, Link, Tai and Bren set out on their own quest...

****

Fourteen

From Asreal to Landstart they spoke of it, and even now they could hardly keep the disbelief out of their voice. Yet the stories were true, and every new patrol inadvertedly confirmed them. 5 score pirate vessels had taken on Hail's lot of 2, and somehow lost. How she managed this amazing feat wasn't quite so sure.

Some told of Hail performing incredible deeds, of directed tidal waves as weapons and of wings on her own ship. Others linked the other amazing event of that day, and said that Hail set the Sadia on her opponents. One village was led to believe that true to her name she could control the weather and that lighting had rained down that day. Only the few villages close to the coast heard of the true story, only they had they had the Xi been unable to stop the story reaching.

Their version had spoken of something nearly as bad - the use of Calalite. The older ones refused to believe it, citing that the foul material had been completely destroyed many a century ago. But those not yet out of their twenties whispered about the ever present rumours; of how even through the two wars some Calalite still remained. To them it was not impossible that some still remained. And if anyone could find it, surely Hail would be the one.

For ever since that day Hail had been the main focus of attention, and the one rumour no one but the church believed was that she had died at the battle. Many young men (and some young women), tired of the monotony of everyday life had set out to find her. Several enterprising con–men took the chance to set up their own fake Hails and many of them made a good profit before the Xi intervened. And yes, the Xi too were searching desperately, hoping that she would not be found alive.

There was one man who also needed to find Hail, and many would have been jealous if they found that he achieved his goal. He did have several advantages on the other searchers to be fair. For a start he had known Hail since before the battle. Secondly he knew that she would also be looking for him. And finally, he held in his the power of the god of this world.

For he was Ganondorf, and nothing was going to stop him. In his hand he held the sceptre containing the power to crush this world; an even easier task than crushing Hyrule had been. And yet he did not act, and did not take that vengeful step. To do so might destroy Nura and thus Nurai, but it would also release Hyrule. 

Here, he had all the power that could be wished. There, the forces of the Triforce could be rejoined and used against him. Perhaps he should risk it all the same, just for the fun of it. After all, what was the point of having all this power if he wasn't going to use it.

__

You will not return yet.

He shivered. He was standing high on a cliff, staring out to the sea and the wind was battering against him. But it was not the cold that made him shake. It was the power in that bodiless voice that endlessly tormented him.

"Who are you?" he shouted out, not afraid of being heard.

__

I am the sun. I am the sky. I am the wind. I am Hyrule; I am not. I am the clock, the mask and the music. I am power. I am who you search for.

He laughed, a rough and deliberately maniacal laugh. "Even I don't know what I search for. Any motive went long ago."

He didn't say it, but all motive had gone since the beast had come. Even now he could feel it just below his skin, threatening to tear itself out.

__

I am time. I am the decider. You are the actor on the stage and I write the script. You will do what I wish.

"You a god?" Ganondorf's question was still cocky, still casual. "Been there, caught that."

__

It is not for you to end Nurai. It is for

"Go on," he said, feeling his sceptre getting slightly warmer.

__

you to tell her, and to set her on her mission.

"Mission? And what's my reward for this?"

__

She will be destiny. Destiny called for by your own long ago. Your pleas do not go unanswered, Ruler of the Desert. Hail was, Hail is and Hail will be.

"Hail?" Memories flooding back; memories of this conversation repeated time after time after time. And yet here it was again, and now he knew what was coming next. The vision.

"Is it time?" he said.

__

Stone room with old man staring down at him. Very, very old man but with eyes that blazed like none he had ever seen before. He was small and fragile, a child against this titan. But even to his youthful eyes the frailness was clear as it slowly settled _in – time performed its normal curse._

"I will be gone soon," said the man, and the boy named Gan did not doubt it. "You will be king then, and will have to lead the Gerudos out of the dark. But there are things you need to know, things that are very secret."

The boy tightly clenched his hands together and tried to concentrate.

"Long ago when the sea still stretched into the sand the Gerudos were not like they were now, but weak, and pirates of the sea. Hyrule was much bigger then, an empire that covered half the world. In their royal family there was a princess named Hail, and she was brave and strong, and had bright red hair.

"But Hail fell in love with the wizard, and knew not that he was already devoted to another women. The wizard found Hail's loyalty useful, and used her for his own purposes. Hail's family watched, and disapproved of the Gerudo but could do nothing. Finally, when the princess found that she was with child, she decided to run away and join the wizard."

In the next few days there would be many stories that the man would tell him, and Gan treasured all of them. But when his mind and thoughts were not besotted with the golden triangles this story always came back to him. And he knew not who to hate – the Gerudos, or the Hylinians.

For the old man continued, "Three days after Hail's child was born, the wizard revealed his true self to her. Before she could run he captured her, and the morning after she was to death as a sacrifice to aid with the wizard's plans.

"That child grew up, and from it came one son and ten daughters. Slowly the family grew, and the true Gerudos, the Gerudos of the sand, grew into the great nation that they are today. Never forget how we started, never forgot the treachery from which we came."

And Gan would nod; knowing that as it had started it must end. And then he heard of the gold.

"Hail was the mother of the Gerudos," Ganondorf reluctantly muttered. "But I still don't know who you are."

__

Only I know who I am, because only I can know. But you may know this sun of the sand – your curse may end, but not here. You must return to the Land of the Gold, and there is only one way to do that.

"Hail's revenge," replied Ganon.

__

Hail's justice. It starts now.

And sure enough, coming up the cliff path to meet him was the form of the princess he knew so well. She was not quite the same as he had last saw her – her hair was now a blazing red, she looked stronger and somehow her walk was stiffer. Yet it was definitely the same princess as he had once searched so long for. And now she was almost of her own free will kneeling down before him. 

"Hail," he said coldly, realising how different the atmosphere was now that the god–like voice had gone.

"I am," she admitted, her voice telling of internal rebellion not able to override the forces that had propelled her here.

"I am here to call you," said Ganondorf, and then the words as they always did flowed on their own accord through his own mouth, "to tell you your purpose, and to command you to fulfil it. For you are here to clean this land and to end it. First, you will sweep this land until there is no outsider left, until there is but the sand, and the daughters of that same."

"And secondly?" she whispered.

"And secondly you will complete the Distile," he told her. "You will confront Nura herself, and finally end her stolen reign. She is life, and you to be death."

Hail nodded once more, her body actions still too rigid to be of free will. And then she was turning on one foot and again walking down the path. If anyone had been there to see they might have seen her eyes, and that would have shocked them the most. No more were they a dull red, the colours of one preparing for a throne. Now they flamed with true light, and there would be no doubt. Nura's killer had arrived. 

*–*

"The Sadia?"

The old man looked just as confused as the woman, and sighing Nala started to realise how little Hyrule's sages knew of this place. 

"Yes," he began again. "The Sadia. They're a force – an evil force. A group of warriors, but warriors who do not even have the weaknesses of flesh. Instead they're made of a kind of molten steel. They can change their shape almost instantly though, and whatever they're made of it doesn't seem to stop them flying if they can form the right shape."

Impa looked puzzled. "How do you fight an enemy which can always change its shape?" she asked. 

Nala smiled. "Thankfully they have an incredible sense of honour. They'd rather dies than break it. A bit like the Kalen really..." At their puzzled looks he realised that they didn't know who they were either. 

"Kalen?" came the expected question from the one named Rauru.

"Never mind," said Nala. "But anyway, once they've got into a fight as one shape they refuse to change. Normally they fight in their warrior form, but they still have Xi–like skills. They also have the advantage that they can mentally communicate with each other, so they're almost impossibly well co–ordinated. It's hard to tell where one starts and the other ends sometimes, as they can merge as well."

Rauru nodded. The meaning of the term Xi had already been explained to him, and although he had not seen any of them first hand he had a good imagination. But still, if they had returned to their cage it was no use worrying about them. Instead Rauru turned to look at the big piece of parchment laid out on the floor.

"So we are here?" he asked, pointing to a mountain range near the north on the map.  
Nala gave a sign of assent.

"So if Link and two sages are there and you reckon that two other sages are over there that makes just one thing I don't understand." 

"What?" Nala started, wondering what was wrong.

"There are seven sages," Rauru said firmly, "where is the seventh?"

"Se...seven?" that definitely was unexpected. "Link told me about you and Impa, a Kokiri, a Goron, a Gerudo, and a Zora."

"Zelda, a princess, is the seventh," said Impa, interrupting.

"Zelda?" Nala looked a bit relieved, "Link told me that... that we should concentrate on the other six. A dream or something."

"He has had dreams of prophecy before," commented Rauru slowly, "if Link said so, we must believe it. Hard to interpret they may be, but at the moment we don't seem to have any other choice." 

*-*

"You really should take this more carefully down," Bren said, a little flustered.

"Why? I could do this single-handedly," Tai ridiculed.

"Good idea," commented Link, "you handle whatever it is while I get the sages." 

And before Bren could stop them the two of them had disappeared into the guarding chamber.

It was a huge, dark room with immense columns interposed at various points. Link who was standing at a small platform at the entrance could hardly see the ceiling. He lowered himself down to the floor and waited for something to happen. Typical set-up, he thought wryly.

Obligingly an old man crept out of the mist smiling broadly. His stained white hair was half streaked with dirt, and his skin looked on its own like it had passed several millennia. If it wasn't for the eyes the man wouldn't have looked like he could have fought a rat, let alone be a guardian. But his eyes seemed to be twice as big as would be expected, and icily. Without waiting to ask why Link was here the man muttered something under his breath and then stretched out his hands. A second later and a huge ball of flame was flying out towards the intruder.

Link calmly bounced it back with his sword and then darted off as Tai somersaulted in to take over. Shadowed in the darkness he quickly crept over to the back of the room. There it was waiting – a huge stone wall with a painted door easily marked on it. Hopefully the door would become real when the old man was dealt with.

That man in question had now paused and was mumbling a spell savagely under his breath.

"Come on!" taunted Tai, "we've got another two sages to rescue after this!"

Suddenly the man threw up his arms again and released another torrent of energy at the Xi. Calmly, she reflected it with her sword again taunting, "Have you any idea how unoriginal that is?"

If the man had known it, it looked like he no longer would. Seemingly unable to block his own spell it smashed right into him, and he stumbled back into the wall. Smoke poured off his body, and although he tried to stand again he only ended up falling once more. Half-astonished Tai saw that the wall by Link had 'opened', the two halves of it parting to reveal one last room.

"That was a bit easy," remarked Link, trying to act light–hearted even if he didn't quite feel it, "there's just no quality in this land. Even the dungeon bosses are inferior. Queen Ghoma could have probably defeated ten of them with four of her legs torn off…"

But his speech was cut off by a young, familiar, female voice, "Link…"

"Saria!"

*-*

Later that day he finally awoke. 

His skin was completely ash–black, his clothes non-existent and only half of his body seemed to still be there. And yet he lived. Not for long, but an eternity for what he wished to do.

It was not his fault that no one had fought him until age had taken his strength. Most of all he hated the over confident girl and her warrior friend. They had gone, as he had known they would, but he would get his revenge.

If pain had not destroyed half of his sense he would not have even considered doing it. He would have known that his action would change the future and almost certainly devastate the small land of Nurai. Even if he had not known that his actions would not only endanger Nurai he should not have done it. 

But how could he know what the action of using his last breath to resurrect the Sadia would cause?

****

Note – I've got too far to stop posting this now, but that doesn't mean that reviews aren't appreciated (a nice total of 0 for the last chapter). Thanks to Ric for reviewing, anyhow.


	15. Fifteen

****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: This must be a record for getting a new chapter up. Anyone reading at all? Ah... never mind.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and her fellow sage. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

****

Fifteen

The Sadia.

The most feared warriors the Kalen had ever faced. Even the Xi weren't as strong as them. And that had been in the glory days of the Xi, the days before the war between them and the Kalen. They still existed, but only as a vague shadow of their former power. Back then, there had been several Xi in every town. Now there were a couple of hundred in total, and more and more of them had broken away. It was no secret how much money the Xis could earn as assassins. 

Their was a thousand Sadia. A thousand trained warriors who could morph into any shape that they liked. A thousand individual, yet bound together enemies who were disciplined to perfection. A thousand willing for revenge.

Their first attack had gone well. Flying together in a huge cloud they had headed towards the capital and consumed it. Some had tried to fight back, all had failed. All but one.

He had conjured up in an instant more power than ever seen before in Nura. He had managed to reverse the Sadian assault and re-trap them in their mountain prison. And there they would have stayed if fate had not decided to give them another chance. They would not waste it.

They hungered for their vengeance, but they were cautious and afraid of the capital. This time they would first head west and build up a strong force before they tried to attack again. After all they would need to build up to a finale, and what better finale than Asreal itself ?

But first they would have to destroy the one who had stopped them before. They would split up and cross the land until they found him. And then he would have to fight. And they hoped that he couldn't use his power again.

*-*

"Then Tanya told me that she really was called Tai and…" 

"Link!" Bren interrupted, "Saria. Are you ready?"

"For what?" asked the strange Kokiri girl curiously.

"Hasn't Link told you yet that he has no idea who you are yet?" asked Rein curiously.

"That's not true!" Link glared at Rein. "Well...not quite true. I...I can remember faint impressions."

They were sitting round a camp fire, Link eagerly staying as close to the girl as possible. "The scary thing is," remarked Rein, "that he knows more about my past life than his." Now it was his turn to glare.

Tai shuddered as she watched from her safe distance. She still hadn't got used to Rein's voice coming from Bren's mouth. At least Link seemed to be happy. Rein was wrong, he could obviously remember the small girl as a very close friend. He hadn't stopped talking to Saria since they had rescued her and the Goron. She smiled as she remembered Bren's surprise at seeing Darunia. He had never see one of the strange yellow creatures before. Tai had only seen them herself a couple of times. So if she was glad that Link was happy, how come she was still depressed? It wasn't just because Link had ignored her, was it? That was silly – she wasn't a child needing attention at every moment.

She wondered off up the small hill that they were camping in the shadow of, telling herself that it would let herself plan where they had to go next. Assuming Nala had managed to do his job there were only two more sages to find. Then… Then what would they do?

Back at the fire Bren watched curiously as Tai wandered further off. Something wrong? Internally, he glared at Rein's answer to the question. He bought his attention back to Link and Saria who were once again talking now that Rein was leaving them alone. Or more like Link was talking to Saria – he hadn't stopped babbling for the last half hour. Bren had never met Link with his memory still intact and he couldn't help wondering whether he would still act the same.

"You'll need to both drink this," he instructed, interrupting their conversation finally and holding out a blue potion which he had been given at Asreal by the witch. "It should put you to sleep until sometime tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully you'll get your memory back."

Link nodded slowly and then looked at Saria. "Shall we?"

She nodded firmly and held out her hand as Bren gave the blue liquid to her. She gulped down half of it and handed it to Link who quickly swallowed the rest. While they were still awake they made their way to the tents pitched for the night.

Exhaustion already settling in; they made their way to the tent that had been chosen and collapsed to the floor. Bren walked over and pulled a blankets over them. The closer their bodies were the better chance there was of the spell working. 

After making sure that they would be alright for the night he made his way back over to Darunia. He was resting by the camp fire, still looking slightly puzzled. Sigh – Bren knew that he had a long night of explaining ahead.

*-*

A white floor?

Link jumped up, startled by the sudden appearance of it.

He had been staggering along by Saria, feeling more tired every second, to their tent and had eventually given in and collapsed onto it.

Naturally he had expected to either fall on the cloth floor or fall asleep. Instead he had found himself on a white floor. Looking around he could see that he was now in some huge white stone temple. Saria had completely disappeared. Was he asleep and dreaming? A side effect of the potion?

He got up, no longer feeling tired, and started to walk to the nearest arch. On the other side he simply found himself in a long corridor, stretching along to a point at the horizon. This had to be a dream. So why did he feel so awake?

He turned around but the corridor only a stretched a few metres in that direction. The whole side of the corridor was lined with arch after arch. There must have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of them. 

The problem was that all the arches seemed to be in front of mist and he could only just make out vague details about what was behind him. Straining his eyes, he could just make out a tent. He looked harder in one and he could barely see the face of a young woman. She couldn't be more than thirty and in some way that Link could not understand she was vaguely familiar.

He walked up to the arch but some invisible force stopped him from going through it. Somehow he had expected that. He looked at the woman, getting as close as he could, and wished that he knew more about her. Who was she?

"She was your mother."

Link jumped; spinning around he saw behind him was what looked like a glowing Saria. She was different… somehow he knew she wasn't quite the same Saria he knew.

"Who are you?" he asked, "Where is... this?"

"You are an intruder," the girl laughed. "This is me."

She paused for a moment and looked at his face harder for a moment, "You want to learn something, don't you? About yourself? You are silly! You should go to yourself for that!"

Suddenly she ran down the corridor.

"Wait!" Link called, and he sprinted after her. 

It was strange running through it. The corridor seemed to speed up as he sped up until he was racing past hundred of arches every few second and they turned into a blur. Vaguely he could still make out the thing which stayed in the arches. At first they seemed to mostly have trees behind them. Then in a relatively short amount of time the arches quickly changed into a lot of other things, lakes, mountains and towns.

Suddenly the girl darted through one and Link found that he could travel through it too. Somehow that seemed natural. He found himself at somewhere that seemed vaguely familiar. He was standing on what seemed like the wrecked ruins of a castle. Debris, rubble and fire were all around, the sky a mess of smoke.

The first person he noticed was a girl whose mouth was open as if she was shouting. She was very tall and had long blonde hair. She too was strangely familiar. Suddenly his mouth started to say her name on its own.

__

Zelda.

How could he have forgotten what she had looked like when she was older? He could vaguely remember seeing her recently. But surely she didn't look like that? Her hair had been different, her face had not taken so much grief and he was sure that she had not been so tall. 

It was only then that he had noticed the huge wall of flame that she was staring anxiously at, and more specifically the shapes that were in it. He slowly walked forwards to the fire and found that he could walk through it like he was a ghost.

He was in a frozen moment of time. If he had not already realised that nothing was moving it would have become even more obvious from the supposedly action filled and fast pace scene which had been taking place. In front of him was huge thing – monster, he guessed – with two enormous swords. It had the most evil face he had ever seen. And it was fighting...

Him. Standing there with the Master Sword determinedly held ready.

"I don't look like that," he unconsciously said aloud.

"Of course you don't," it was the Saria imposer again, "is this your memory?"

Memory? If it wasn't his, whose was it? Saria's?

"Am I in Saria's memory?" he quickly asked.

She looked at him for a second. 

"No. You're at the wreck of Ganondorf's Castle at the time when you and Ganon fought. Except that was wiped out in time, wasn't it? It didn't happen. He..."

She pointed to the huge monster.

"...didn't exist. Or did he? Does she?"

Link was given another shock. He was back at the camp place where he had been only ten minutes ago. He could clearly see Bren, Darunia, Saria, Tai and himself. Again everyone seemed too tall. The fake Saria was pointing at Tai who had a strange, slightly sad impression on her face.

"I've come," said Link, at last, deciding that this was getting him nowhere, "to learn everything you know about me."

"Private," she said shortly.

"I...I..." he was taken back, Bren hadn't warned him about all of this.

"An exchange?" he weakly suggested.

"Done," she said quickly, a smile on her face.

Suddenly they were warping from instant of time to instant of time, most of them in the last few months. His dreams, his thoughts, his every movement. A few made him blush in embarrassment. That only made the fake Saria smile even more broadly.

They finally arrived back at the camp place.

"Ah. I see what you want. You want your old memories back. I will do it all. You can just relax." 

Yet again Link felt himself slump to the ground, but this time he really did sleep.

He awoke refreshed to see the fake Saria looking very worriedly at him. 

"You didn't tell me!" she almost screamed. "You didn't tell me that you had memories from the future!"

She was more distressed than Link had ever see the real Saria be.

"I couldn't help looking," she almost sobbed, "and then..." 

She paused, tears now falling out of her eyes.

"Don't forget... There's something I have to tell you... I..."

*-*

Drale was rather annoyed when the young soldier came in and disturbed his rest.

He found being the ruler of his small island colony rather a tiring job and he was always glad of his rest. The church seemed so fond of paperwork. He was slightly placated by the look of slight fear on the soldier's face. At least he was respectful.

"Th-there's a group of women who want to c-come through the g-gate, Sir," he stammered, "they looked quite angry..."

There was a loud crash. The huge wooden gate of the village had suddenly came crashing down. The group had grown bored of waiting.

Staring in horror Drale saw a group of pirates run through the village. At every house they entered. At the front was a women – if she could be described as such. Her hair and her eyes were all he noticed, a penetrating red that refused to let you not look and be trapped in it. She calmly strolled through the village, and even from her walk he could tell that she feared no one.

Two of her followers suddenly ran into Drale's own house. They burst past his wife and in a moment were by the soldier guarding him. He was a corpse on the floor in a moment. Drale tried to stand, but it was too late. He was slayed while he was still trying to stand.

In houses everywhere the pattern was repeated. A pair of baby twins were torn out of a woman's hands while her husband was killed. Their clothes were ripped off and with a quick glance the boy slaughtered.

Hail stood firmly in the centre of the chaos, oblivious to the carnage that was happening about her. Her inner self had disappeared, replaced by a being whose only aim was to fulfil destiny.

Besides, killing every male was the easy part, she knew how much harder her second job would be. But she had no fear. She was Hail. Every woman obeyed her on sight, every man would die. Every stain washed away. Even the gods would fear her.

Especially one, the one named Nura.

For Hail's final destiny was to kill Nura and thus complete the Distile.

She couldn't wait.


	16. Sixteen

****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: Now this is a record for getting a new chapter up. Two in one night. Somehow that's still given time for my most reviews for ages. Thanks to John and Rich.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. 

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories.

****

Sixteen

The ground was shaking.

Raymus was safe, but he was one of few. Hundreds of people were running through the streets of Asreal, desperately trying to escape from the tumbling city. Every other second another building crashed down into the streets, the previously supporting stones turning into rubble. 

The city had bravely stood one earthquake and the majority of it had even survived the second. But the cracks that had been formed in the first two were only widened in the third disaster. It did not matter any more whether there was any more earthquakes. The city could hardly have been ruined any further.

The only building that was still somehow standing was the Glass Temple. Raymus could remember it starting to break in the first (he still shuddered at the memory of Link's 'death') but now the majority of it was still bravely rising above the rest of the city; a rebelling thrust against the carnage below.

The Church Imperial Trade Centre suddenly shook too heavily. Already the letters which made up its name (including the 'T' which had saved Link and Tai's lives) had smashed into the ground shortly and not the rest of the building was followed them. Raymus hoped that it had been evacuated.

One particularly violent jerk knocked to Raymus to the floor, where he stayed for a few moments, breathing hard and groaning. He was just getting up when the dark cloudy sky began using its force. Lightning tore down on the city but to his surprise Raymus noticed that there was no rain.

A moment later he was wishing strongly that there was. The wooden buildings had caught fire and the wind was spreading it quickly. At this rate there would be nothing left.

Dozens of people were still pouring out of the city gates into the relative safety of the outside fields. Some of them were nearly caught in an avalanche of stone as the city walls began to fall down. Most of them escaped, but another twenty or so were caught, and killed as sacrifices to nature's power. The survivors joined the crowd and half of them started praying to Nura – not yet guessing that she could not help them.

"Sir," said the voice of a young soldier from just behind Raymus.

The priest turned around and took the message that the soldier was handing out. Quickly he tore off its seal and unfolded it. It was short, but enough to put Raymus in an even worse mood:

"Urgent reinforcements needed quickly. Pirate group has started attacking local villages. Kills only men. Rumours of Hail leading. Other colonies totally wiped out. People talk of Sadian attacks. Death toll in hundreds"

  
The sender obviously had not had a lot of time to write his message. Raymus realised then that he had an important decision to make. They would need many soldiers here to help rebuild, but he also knew that many other cities would have suffered. The army would have been stretched to it limits to keep it here and he guessed that there was no real point. If the Sadia and Hail had really started attacking they would soon move up here if they weren't quickly stopped. 

Thankful that the earthquake had finally stopped he ran to the emergency medical tent which had already been put up and found some parchment and a pen. 

Quickly he wrote to the head of the army:

"Chake, the Sadia have reappeared and have attacked in the south. Your army will be overwhelmed if you try to stop them on your own but I am ordering the Xi to help you. 

However, we have another problem. The real Hail has started to fulfil the secret prophecies and will be a danger to all male soldiers and civilians. Find her as soon as possible, hopefully she will not be a match for a real army. 

I am going to see if the legends are true. If the Kalen really do still survive partially I will find them and implore them to help. We have to delay the Distile as long as possible to give the Hylinian hero long enough to find the sages.

Raymus "

The young soldier was standing to attention again nearby, and so Raymus handed it over to him, and instructed him to see it delivered. Somehow that soldier had the look of a man who could get a job done.

Unfortunately for Raymus, he didn't know whom the soldier would want to get a job done for. Kaze almost smiled as he walked off, looking for a safe distance to dispose of his uniform. It was time to return – the others could handle Asreal information, or what would be left of it. The action had left the city now, and he knew not where it was heading. It was all coming to a head, he could sense that the pressure would explode soon.

He wouldn't dare miss it.

*-*

The Balavian ball's was formally supposed to be a dismal air, and even the Nuran nobles couldn't help being slightly concerned by the disturbing rumours that kept pouring in. Luckily for the spirit of the party the news about Asreal and the Sadia hadn't reached them yet. In fact the general opinion was as long as the army soon got to work and the weather calmed down a bit that the disasters could actually initiate some new business opportunities.

Lord Balavia certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, and even let his normally strict self-regulation over alcohol slip. But he reflected, he was allowed to enjoy himself sometimes. The music was excellent, he had managed to persuade the Lelians to deign him with a visit and they hadn't even had a single fight yet. Then again, maybe that last one would make the party more fun. Suddenly he saw a pretty girl beckoning him, and smiling he put down his drink he walked over to her.

Silently they started to dance, and to his surprise Balavia found himself even forgetting the people watching them. There was something strange about, something captivating. And yet no matter how hard he thought he couldn't remember who she was, or what family she belonged to. Yet she obviously belonged here, there was no mistaking the dignity of her movements. 

Finally the curiosity overcame him. "I'm sorry," he said. "What is your name?"

She smiled. "You know my name."

He laughed. If it was a girl she wanted...

"Come on," she laughed too, and it was so infectious that he found himself laughing again along with her. "Go on – it's not that hard. Just try to describe me."

"Ok..." he said. "Let's see... Red hair, middlish height, beautiful face, and dazzling red eyes." He stopped and looked at her, trying to shrug off a vague thought that was disturbing him.

"You forgot something," she said, still smiling and innocent. "A sword hold right before you, and about to do some terrible damage."

His eyes glazed over and he stared down at the blade she had indeed brought between the shelter of their two bodies. "Hail."

"Good guess," she told him, and plunged in the blade. A second and a turn later, and she was heading back towards the front door. For a moment a speechless crowd stared at her. And then as she was about to walk out, her followers burst in and passed her by.

For a good five minutes walk away from she could still hear the screams, and thanks to them, she managed to keep the smile on her face. 

*-*

True to Bren's expectations the last night had been a long one of explaining, and so far the morning had not been that much more difficult. His Goron companion seemed to have a talent for asking limitless questions, and finding oneself in a new land didn't exactly give a small amount of source material. Still, his latest question was a sensible one. 

"How does it work?" Darunia had asked, referring to the potion which Link and Saria had taken. If it worked it should give Link his original memories back. 

Bren considered for a moment and then replied, "I'm not sure really. The witch who gave it to me said that it links their minds. Not strongly, which would require someone with great mental strength, but enough to transfer information and memories quickly. I think one mind tends to dominate the other unless they are perfectly matched. Apart from that..."

Bren shrugged.

"I should imagine they'd have to negotiate," remarked Rein.

"What do you mean?" the Goron said sharply. He was worried about Link and Saria who should have woken by now, and didn't quite trust Bren's parasite companion (explaining their relationship must have taken at least an hour). 

"Minds are awfully greedy things," Rein explained, "they tend to want as much information as they can get. When someone's subconscious takes over you'd be surprised to how vicious it can get."

"They'll be awake soon," Bren said firmly, trying to reassure himself more than anyone else. 

The Goron nodded thoughtfully and turned to look at the horizon.

"What is that?" he asked puzzled pointing at a small black dot in the sky.

"I'm not sure..." Bren tried to make it out, "Its coming closer whatever it is."  
Warily, the Goron went to pick up the huge sword that Bren had lent him. He was not used to the weapon, but with his enormous strength he could still be a formidable warrior. Or at least so Bren hoped.

Tai silently appeared behind her teacher and stared hard at the dot.

"It's the Sadia," she said quietly, her voice not able to stop the fear and tension leaking out. None of them even bothered to make an expression of surprise. The atmosphere of the world at the moment seemed to naturally depress, and make you suspect the worse.

Bren stared at her for a moment, but if she was right there was no time to argue. First he had to wake the sleepers – it might be dangerous, but it was nowhere near as bad as leaving them defenceless against the Sadia. He sprinted over to their tent and shook them roughly, muttering a quick prayer that they would be all right. Then he silently cursed as he remembered – Nura couldn't help him at the moment.

Link woke first. For a moment he stared up at Bren, but then he noticed his face.

"What's wrong?" he said, his voice sounding husky and weak.

"Tai thinks that's she seen the Sadia," Bren said simply.

Immediately Link jumped up. 

"Take Saria into hiding," he said quietly, his voice now determined and strong. 

Bren nodded, picked Saria up as she slowly stirred awake. He jogged out of the tent and towards the small woods nearby. 

Link grabbed his sword and ran out into the open where he could already see Tai and Darunia standing ready. There was no doubt about who it was now. He could already make out two metallic eagles soaring quickly down to them. 

Even as he was sprinting towards his friends he saw the creatures morph into two huge warriors. One leapt at Tai, the other at Darunia. Tai darted past the sword bow aimed at her and swung her own weapon at the monsters chest. The creature grasped her in an iron grip but she managed to kick her way loose.

Darunia hadn't been so lucky. The warrior managed to knock his sword out of his hand in one swipe and then with another sent him unconscious to the floor. The creature rose his sword again to stab the Goron through the heart...

But Link blocked him. Even as he fought he could feel the knowledge from Hyrule reawakening, and he tried to forget the things that kept pouring out with it: Zelda, Malon, Epona, and the Deku Tree... He could think about them later. H HMeaMeanwhile he had the fight of his life going on with this steel demon he was fighting. The Sadia tried again and again to get its sword through to Link's chest but he blocked every strike fairly easily.

"Is that he best you can do?" he mocked – he was in no mood to think of original lines.

Angrily the creature put all its energy into one mighty swing. He easily sidestepped it and pushed his own sword through the creature's heart. Stunned, it dissolved into a stream of water that seemed to slowly melt into the ground. Breathing hard, he turned round to find the other.

Tai was finding it harder work. She was not as strong as Link and parrying the creature's attacks hurt her dearly. Desperately she instead dodged all its blows trying to find a gap somewhere. But the creature was nearly as quick as she was and it was hard work fighting it.

She was just blocking one particularly strong attack when her opponent disintegrated too. Link's smiling face with his sword outstretched appeared from behind the creature's dissipating body. He had got it from the back.

"That was my kill!" she protested weakly.

The smile dropped off Link's face as a scream suddenly cut through the silence.

"Saria!" he shouted.

With one glance Tai and he instantaneously span around and sprinted back to the woods.

There they could just make out Bren bravely trying to fight off a third Sadia which had sneaked in while they were still busy with the other two. This one looked bigger, and somehow tougher. Suddenly Bren was knocked down to the floor, but to the Sadia's surprise he was up again in an instant. Bren may have blacked out – but Rein was still there and he had hundreds of years of experience to rely on.

But Bren's body couldn't stand much more and eventually Rein finally dropped too, leaving the creature to run on to where Saria was standing, shouting for help. She turned to run, but the Sadia easily caught up with her and roughly pulled her back.

Link was running like he had never run before, desperate to catch up with her. Even Tai couldn't keep up with him.

Then she stumbled and fell to the floor. Link turned for an instant, realised his mistake and started to sprint again. But even he could not run as fast as the wind. The Sadia had an extra instant; an instant long enough for it to do its desire.

For an instant which might have lasted forever, its sword gleamed in the light. Then it tore its way down through the air; nothing left to stop it. The cruel blade cut easily through the young girl's tender flesh; cutting the precious arteries which had kept Saria alive, and releasing a torrent of precious red.

Too late Link reached the clearing where Saria was.

Too late he managed to push his sword through the Sadia's chest.

Too late he had stopped it.

And as he cried over his best friend's body he realised that no one was immortal. Saria tried to speak. Her mouth wouldn't let her. 

Silently, she died.


	17. Seventeen

****

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Author's note: And another chapter goes up. Many thanks to the new reviewers Mystic Paladin and LauraCeleste. I'll admit that the issue of Tai and Link's relative strengths hasn't exactly been made clear. To put it simply, Link is slightly better than Tai at sword duelling whereas she is pretty far ahead in general hand–to–hand fighting.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. 

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and Bren is forced to awaken them early. In the following battle Darunia is knocked unconscious, but Link and Tai manage to deal with two other Sadia. To their horror another one sneaks in behind them and manages to deal with Bren/Rein. It chases after Saria who has run for safety into the forest. Link tries to stop it, but he is too late to prevent the horrific tragedy.

Saria has been killed.

Seventeen

"She can't be..." Darunia's voice broke off.

He had awoken alone in the clearing; forgotten by the others. He had stared around – worry flooding into his brain. Where was everyone? Why was it so deathly quiet? He had made his way back to the camp, his heavy footfalls sounding wrong against the silence, and his eyes anxiously searching for any signs. Please let there not be any blood. Please.

Naturally he had made his way to the wood where his sharp eyes had spotted a gash in the ground. Someone must have slipped. But at least there was no horrible red stain. Suddenly he had heard a groan on his left, and with a sharp jerk seen Bren laid against a tree breathing heavily, but otherwise all right. 

"Is everyone alright?" Darunia had asked, seeing Bren's face.

Sadly and reluctantly Bren shook his head and said, "Saria... I tried to stop him... Link was too late..."

Rein finished for him. Too many long times in his long life had he seen death and no longer did it hurt him so dearly. He hated that. "Saria didn't make it," he said quietly.

And so after standing still for a few moments, his denial sounding pathetic even to his own ears, Darunia tried to speak again, "Is Link alright?"

Bren replied, "He's quite... understandably... upset."

Silently the Goron walked through the forest, and soon he found the clearing where Saria had stopped running. Tai was standing there at the back, watching Link as he kneeled over his old friend's body. Slowly Darunia walked up to him.

"Can I?" he asked quietly, and he looked down into the face of his fellow sage.

"She won't be the last to die in this," Darunia started, feeling it was the right thing to say "everyone else in Hyrule..."

"Everyone else in Hyrule has still got a chance to come back," Link slowly began to talk, "this wasn't her fight. If I hadn't been stupid enough to mess around... If I had gone to see if she was safe... They used my own strategy on me and I was fool enough not to think of it. This was my fault..."

"No," Tai interrupted suddenly, "my fault... I..."

"You tripping over was an accident..." Link slightly angrily replied.

"That's not it," Tai suddenly realised that she had to confess now or the guilt would kill her, "all of it was my fault. Hyrule. This... this _land..._" 

She almost spat out the word.

"...appearing. The Xi and the Kalen and their stupid quarrels. All of it would still be locked away if I hadn't..."

Link was starting to look at her now. "Go on," he said quietly.

"I... I set..." she gulped slightly, fearful of Link's reaction. "I set him free. Ganon, I mean. I live in Hyrule and I prayed... prayed so much to Nura that she helped me. And she did. We... we set him loose. He was my king. I never dreamed that he would capture her. I didn't know he'd destroy the world."

The silence in the clearing after that was too much for Tai.

"Shall I go?" 

"No, stay," Darunia's voice was obviously upset, his tone pleading for stability.

"Go."

In contrast Link's voice had never been more icily calm.

"Go and never come here again. Go back to your wonderful king... Maybe if I don't see you with him I'll spare you."

"Link!" Darunia's voice was sharp now and even angry. He turned to Tai and said softly, "Don't mind him. He's upset... You've realised your mistakes." There was still a question at the end of the last sentence.

"Fine," Link was desperately trying to keep his voice under control. "If she isn't going, I am. Goodbye." While still in control he could, he walked off, and let the forest absorb him.

"No…" Tai's own voice was shaking now. Her mind went back to Bren's kind and trusting face. Suddenly she turned in another direction, and she too ran off into the forest.

Darunia sat down heavily, and softly stroked Saria's face. He had been a king for so many years, and yet he couldn't even deal with a simple quarrel. Yes, that was what it was. What it had to be. A simple quarrel.

"They'll come back," he whispered, "they have to." 

Never before had he felt less like he was telling the truth.

*-*

__

Below, a beautiful blue ocean spread out from horizon to horizon. And a small, from this distance almost innocent, ship trekked lazily across it. Yet even at the laziest of glances its inhabitants were obvious - pirates.

__

Should we?

Across the sky an army of silver eagles were flying. Not many had seen them and fewer still knew what they were - but those who did were rightfully scared. For they were the Sadia and they were out on the hunt 

One of the Sadian soldiers had first seen them, and he had asked the question. It had taken an instant to ask, for they could communicate mentally, but the reply took longer.

__

No. They are part of the end of this world. It will be more advantageous if we leave them to continue what they have started.

At last he long message came from the leader of the group. The soldier felt pleased - it was an honour to be answered by him in such a long way. Someday, he would be the leader, he told himself.

A few minutes later another message came into his head - a view of the land they were now crossing and a human army marching through it. Five hundred men in classic marching position, their Nuran Church flag of the golden crescent clear.

__

We attack them.

At the leader's command the whole flock dived, their sight already picking out flaws in the army and line of attack. Mentally the soldier steadied his excitement. Later the cheering could begin, but at least for now there was work to be done.

A few metres off the ground and he let himself flow into the human shape, his feet lightly touching the ground. Out of his hand a sword raced, and he was ready. As long as the elements were sufficiently mild a Sadian could change its shape at will. No hero could have stopped them if they had fought using their true morphing powers. But to do so would be against their most sacred honour - life was not worth living if the right rules were not kept to.

The Sadian soldier almost smiled as he saw the army before him, of so many hundred faces, their expression of fear already clear. The humans outnumbered them by so much, and yet they were still cowards. They did not deserve easy deaths.

As one the Sadia sprinted at the row of shields before them. A storm of arrows rained down in front of them, but they were not afraid. Only a direct hit through their unable to morph hearts could kill them. If they were killed then their bodies would dissolve - but none of the Sadia was afraid of death right now.

Their huge swords crashed down onto the humans' shields and where they did not smash them, they easily cast them aside. The soldiers behind only lasted one quick stab longer. 

A few managed to block the Sadia's attacks and still keep hold of their own swords, but none had managed to hit one of the Sadia yet. Steadily the Sadia began working through the human lines. 

And then two other legions of men suddenly charged out of the nearby woods and the Sadia were surrounded. It had been a trap. 

__

They are getting clever.

The Sadian leader wasn't afraid. Easily he dealt with the three soldiers who were now circling him and looked for more. He would have been quite happy to deal with twice as many people at the same time. Still they would no doubt win.

Minute after minute the battle continued, and the humans became downhearted. The Sadia were simply slaughtering them - making use of a ready conveyor belt of new meat. At last they made an impression, and managed to kill one of the grey warriors. A great cheer spread over the army and in the Sadia's surprise at their loss another two Sadian lives were ended. The further victories inspired the humans on again, and the Sadia began to find it harder to hold them back. Yet the Sadia had still killed around 50 to everyone they had lost.

But the humans were suddenly given another huge boost. The sound of horses' hooves was heard and around over the hill came 20 charging horses, and 20 women upon them.

The reinforcements would not normally have mattered. There were hundreds in the human army already. Except these soldiers were different. These soldiers were the most feared warriors in the country. These were the Xi.

Their horses quickly broke through the mass of soldiers and allowed them to get to the centre of the fighting. Perhaps the soldiers were also understandably only too keen for the Xi to pass and delay their own turn. At the centre they leapt off and ran towards the Sadia. As pairs they fought against the grey terror, hoping that they could move from Sadia to Sadia. Always one Xi to defend and back-up, always one to attack.

The Sadia were worried now. Twenty Xis would be enough to handle without their supporting army. One Sadia began to wonder in the circumstances how dishonourable it would be to use their morphing powers. After all if the humans fought ten people on one was fair, why shouldn't they?

Their leader sensed the thoughts and quickly banished them. However low the humans became the Sadia would always keep their honour. Besides this was not bad news - it was a chance for the Sadia to prove their new superiority over their old enemies. He could have sent someone off to fetch reinforcements, but he would not. They would win this battle alone, or die trying.

Another Sadia went down to two experienced Xi and the battle was starting to look even worse for them. Bravely they fought on and on, and they took not only many normal soldiers down but also steadily the Xi.

Two Sadia were defeated but so were three Xi. And the more Xi who were killed, the easier it became for the Sadia. Suddenly their chances were starting to look up again.

Gradually both sides' numbers crept down until three hundred soldiers, ten Xi and twelve Sadia were left.

The Sadia suddenly changed their strategy, and grouped into pairs. The Xi responded by sending five at each pair and hoping that the soldiers could cope with the other Sadia. One pair was defeated and half of another, but two more Xi were killed.

Finally eight of the Sadia ended up all grouped together, back to back. But they only had one sword each and all the soldiers had been told to try and restrict the movement of weapon's attacks as much as possible.

Two soldiers would block a Sadia's sword while a Xi would stab it through the chest. There was not much they could do. Desperately they fought on against all odds but even they could not do the impossible.

The Sadian leader made his decision. The battle was useless and someone had to report of it to the rest of the Sadia. Without protest, his last two warriors sacrificed themselves to give him spare time. He jumped into the sky, flung himself into the eagle form and flew into the sky, sadly watching as the human mass swallowed the last two chrome masses.  
But overall the battle had been a success. The Sadia had lost but a fraction of their total number whereas the humans had lost half of what must have been one of their biggest armies and a precious amount of Xi.  
The future was looking bright.

*-*

Of course Tai had knew that lying at the bottom of a tree would not exactly be the safest place to sleep. However she was tired, it was pitch black, and she had trusted herself to wake if she needed to. Her Xi reactions she had told herself would wake her if anyone were walking too close. 

Unfortunately, it didn't quite work.

She was shocked awake to find someone stumbling over her. In an instant she tried to jump up, but her instincts betrayed her. Jumping up only made her collide with the other person and sent the two of them falling awkwardly back down to the ground.

The stranger was pressing onto her, and roughly she tried to push them off or roll over herself. The other person landed to her side, and to her surprise didn't try to fight back. Finally the two of them managed to stand up. Yet it was still black, and the two of them couldn't even see each other's faces.  
"Who..." started the voice. Link's voice.

"Link... it's me, I..." she broke off.

He was silent for a few seconds and then, "How?"

"You must have tripped over me... I was sleeping on the ground," she explained.

"No… Why are you out here?" he asked, his voice still surprised.

"When you went... I couldn't stand to think what the others..." she stopped, "What you must think..."  
"I was wrong," his voice was firm, "everyone makes mistakes. I... I don't know if you would believe this but everyone in Hyrule had to live through seven years of terror under Ganon. That was all thanks to me. I thought I was so clever that I could do everything myself. I thought I could save the whole kingdom myself! I should have known better - got Darunia or somebody else to help. But Zelda and I thought we could do it all on our own. I don't blame her. After all, she is a princess and how would she know about the outside world? But I should have known. Asked somebody. Then I... I led Ganon to the way to the Sacred Realm and the Triforce... and I opened it and he more or less walked right in."

He stopped.

"But that wasn't deliberate," Tai said, " you were just a young kid full of dreams of saving the world. Ever since I was born I should have realised what he was... but I didn't until... and then I felt so guilty I could have jumped off a cliff. How could I ever have been so stupid? This whole world is going to end and it may be all my fault."

"That's not true. This isn't the first time I've been to another world that looked like it was in trouble. I had a lot of weird things happen to me there.... I don't know why it's happened again. I wish I did. Besides, all this may have nothing to do with Hyrule, and Hyrule going. And I'm sorry... I was just so upset about Saria.

"When I was young I lived in a place where I just felt so alone; an outsider. I don't know if I could have managed to stay there for all that time if it wasn't for her. Everyday she would be so friendly. She would defend me whenever she could. She was like a mother to me.

"Eventually I grew up and now it was me who should have defended her. But I didn't. At first I blamed myself, but then... I blamed you. I know it was unfair but I just couldn't think straight. If you hadn't tripped, and I hadn't turned around... She probably would be still alive. At least that's what I thought. 

Forgive me?"

The moon suddenly came out from behind the wall of thick cloud in which it had been hiding, and for a moment lit up the forest. Tai found that she was standing embarrassingly close to Link, and was about to move back when she suddenly decided against it. Instead she moved even closer, brought her face in right close to his, and stared straight into his eyes. 

Together for an endless moment they stayed facing each other, gaze to gaze. Somehow Tai felt like she could really see the true him and what he stood for. And then, at the same time, it was as if she was finally opening up, letting down her every defence. Here she was, sin, problems, trauma and all, and she was unashamed. Anyone else could take or leave her, but she could not ultimately change herself. And so she stayed staring, for to glance away would be to show shame, and to deny herself once and for all. 

I forgive you…" she said quietly.

She couldn't break away. She would never break away. It was stupid, but this was her trial, her epiphany. Afterwards she could stop running and hiding, and get on with a life. But while light remained, she had to stay like this and could not let anything take over.

Finally the moon returned behind the cloud, and finally she was free.


	18. Eighteen

Eighteen ****

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Author's note: Not quite as fast as I have done before but I don't think it was too bad. Six more chapters to go, and we're starting to get into the final section. From now on things should hopefully start to draw together. Again thanks to LauraCeleste for reviewing .

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. 

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again.

****

Eighteen

The country was breaking up.

Daimos, the head of the Nuran church, would have to be using all of his power to try and keep the country together. After all, that was part of his job. But more and more cities were being wiped out by the triple threats of the Sadia, Hail and even the land itself. Earthquakes and storms had become regular, if not usual, occurrences.

Raymus reflected that in a more peaceful time it would have been an interesting matter to discuss. They had believed Nura responsible for the weather and yet she could not possibly be causing this. For if this was the Distile, then Nura had to be trapped somewhere, and if she was trapped she would not be able to influence outside events. Maybe she had invested some other spirit with power to control the weather (who was now angry in her absence), or maybe it had all just gone totally out of control without her.

And the weather wasn't the only thing to not be behaving normally, thought the priest. The latest reports weren't exactly encouraging. One small group of the Sadia had wiped out half of an army. Personally Raymus thought that they would have been completely wiped out if the Xi had not helped. And if the Xi also lost people at that rate in future there would not be enough of them to go around. As for the rest of the army, it had not been much use either. It had completely failed to find and stop Hail, and wasn't doing much good for the newly homeless refugees either.

So far rebuilding Asreal had seemed hopeless - they had been unable to even start with the weather as it was. Temporary camps were being expanded but they could not be used indefinitely. Hundreds of people already had to be contained because of panic. 

Raymus himself was travelling alone. He considered it safer to be as inconspicuous as possible, especially as his objective was not too far away. Besides, he wasn't sure that a garrison of troops would agree with his mission.

The Kalen he sought, and it wasn't exactly an easy task. They had been in complete hiding for decades. From all the rumours of the Kalen that he had been able to study it seemed that one particular forest was their most likely base. It made sense that this would be where they there. It was not too far from the capital, and they would not have wanted to stray too far from it. They were supposed to be the Royal Guard after all, and the King's palace had been in Asreal. More over, the important city was the only place where they could guarantee that information would get to eventually. Anyone who wanted to stay in touch would have to stay in contact with sources there.

But even if he had guessed right, his next challenge would be even harder. He had to persuade them to let him in. He was not looking forward to the begging he predicted that he would have to do. The Kalen were not going to look kindly on an important figure in their great enemy. The unusual circumstances were his only hope.

He had just reached the crest of a small hill when his eyes fell on a small campsite. Curious, he made his way down to it. This was not a time when most people wanted to stray too far from civilisation. A quick trot soon cleared up the mystery however, as he spotted a familiar face - Bren. A few seconds later and he had recognised which species the strange yellow creature beside him was from. If the books were right, then this could only be a Goron. And only Nala and Link had told of a Goron to be found in Nurai recently.

"You have succeeded in rescuing some of the sages!" he congratulated heartily, and he really meant it. This truly was excellent news, especially after what he had heard from Nala.

The brief smile that had been on the two's faces when they had identified him immediately dropped.

"We were attacked," Bren started to explain, " and a sage... Her name was Saria. She was killed."

Raymus stopped dead still, his mood at once soured. Had they come so close to rescuing the sages to lose now? "Who attacked you?" he said eventually. "And where is Link or your apprentice?" 

*-*

Nala stared out at the battlefield, wishing that he could help.

Before him chaos reigned, as the carefully trained and drilled soldiers disastrously lost their formation, and were forced to fight man-to-woman against their sudden attackers. For that was what it had been, a sudden and unpredictable ambush. His army had been on a peaceful march to the next suspected location of the sages when this pirate group had jumped out at them from behind the hills. The surprise of the attack had cost them dearly, and if it was not for some lucky fighting the army could easily have been routed within a few minutes. Now they were attacking strongly, but so were the pirates, almost maniacally so.

Even with their lack of organisation they were still putting up a strong fight, and at the moment the numbers on either side had been reduced to about equal.

Nala stared hard at the attacking force, and he couldn't help wondering if the legendary Hail led them. What other pirate still roamed these days? If so, Hail was not putting up as good a fight as he would have expected her to. In fact, the battle was slowly beginning to turn to the soldier's favour, as it should always have been. The soldiers had originally outnumbered the pirates by a factor of four. It would take something special for the pirates to win now.

Then the special thing came.

The pirates suddenly started to sprint backwards. Not sure what was going on, the soldiers watched them for an instant. Not moving was their last mistake. A small package was thrown into the middle of the army, and the next moment several of the pirates began shooting burning arrows at it.

"What..." Nura looked puzzled, and then he knew, "Run!"

His shout came too late. One of the arrows came close to the package, and in the next instant it was alight. A horrible pause followed, as the finally realising soldiers turned to sprint. But it was too late, and the fire bursting out of the innocent bundle easily caught up with them. They were vaporised, even as their legs pumped across the ground.

When the flames had finally died down, the result was easy to see. A horrible black and red stain spread over the landscape and three quarters of Nala's army had been wiped out. The thirty or so left stared in horror around them.

"What happened?" 

Nala heard the old voice of Rauru, for the first time actually sounding shaken, come from behind him. 

"Calalite," he replied bitterly. Where had Hail got the thing? And more importantly, how much had she left? 

The army started to regroup, but he knew it was pointless. Before, they had struggled when the odds were in their favour, now there would be a massacre. Quickly he gave the dreaded order - surrender.

The pirates swept through the group, and tied up all the soldiers. Nala tried to restrain his anger - did they not trust the soldier's honour when they said that they had given up? 

Finally Hail herself appeared, and came up to them riding on a pitch-black horse.

"Zelda..." Impa's outburst was one of pure surprise.

"What?" Rauru's voice was confused at Impa's exclamation. But then he too looked harder at the girl with her long red hair, and stared deep into her eyes. Gradually what her life long guardian had realised in an instant, he saw as well.  
Hail too was slight less sure of herself, and looked hard at both of them for a moment. They were so familiar... particularly the woman. Were they related somehow to the boy in green who haunted her dreams? And why had they called her by that name - or was that once her name? It was so hard to remember.

"Tie them up!" she ordered finally, "But... not too tight. We keep these old two."

For a moment Nala was almost sick with disgust at what Hail's group were doing. The pirates were going through the tied up men and slaughtering them. Not one of the men could defend themselves as they were all still unarmed and bound.

As the pirates came close to him, he quickly made up his mind. A quick count to three and he exploded into a downwards slide right through the oncoming women. Then, using strength born solely out of desperation, he ran to the nearest empty horse, leapt onto it and ordered it to gallop. To his relief the urgency in his voice came through, and the creature sprinted at its true top speed away. Still weak he clang onto the horse, hoping that it would be fast enough. Someone had to tell of this, someone had to commemorate those men's' lives.

The pirates turned questioning glances at Hail, but she shook her head. 

"He'll keep."

*-*

The morning had dawned in the forest as well.

Link was leaning against a tree in the peace of the early morning, and examining the broach that had just fallen out of his pocket. It seemed so long ago that the intruding Kalen had given it to him. That had been just after Nala first awoke him in Nurai – then he had not even known what the Distile was. Then Saria had still been alive. 

The broach itself was made out of fairly heavy, shiny metal (which seemed to wrong to him for some reason), and was covered with old writing that he could not understand, let alone recognise. And of course the whole broach was dominated by Nura's holy symbol, the crescent with light beams through it to represent the Kalen's superiority. He doubted that it would even do anything for a foreigner like him. 

As he saw Tai wander back towards him he made up his mind. She walked up to him still trying to dry her hair with an old rag; it was dripping water from the river where she had been washing. She noticed the broach, and looked at it curiously.

"What's that?" she asked.

"A gift," Link explained, "someone I knew for a short time gave it to me. But seeing as probably only Gerudos can use it, I was wondering... would you like it?"

She smiled and took the small broach from him. Then, to his surprise, a look of disgust came on to her face.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I can't take this. It's a Kalen ornament."

She gave it back to him. He asked, "Then you know what it does?"

"No... But Link; you ought to know. You should be able to use that broach. Your mother was like me. A Gerudo, I mean."

Saria's memory of his mother's face came back to him. It made sense.

"I wish I knew more... but I don't," said Tai, "I've got no more secrets."

Somehow it wasn't a surprise to him. He didn't even really care - at the moment the broach seemed more important. Curiously, he attached it to his shirt. For a moment nothing happened, and then the whole world seemed to go out of focus and he could barely make out Tai covering her eyes. Suddenly the world jolted sharply back into focus and he could see clearly again. In fact better than before. He could make out things much more clearly and see far further. And then there was one other big difference.

Only a few hundreds of metres away, stood what could only be described as an enormous fortress. It rose above the forest with line above line of turrets, walls, and rectangular windows which seemed to cover the whole hillside. The building was made out of fairly old, but clearly solid, stone. Occasionally it was reinforced in parts with huge planks of wood, but the majority of the building looked strong enough on its own.

"Link?" Tai's voice interrupted his gazing, her voice nervous and unsure. "Where are you?"

"I'm... here," he replied, puzzled, as he had not moved.

"I can't see you," she told him, and then she cautiously stretching out her hand.

Link bought his own out to touch it, and she gasped when their limbs connected.

"Take it off," she said quietly, "I don't trust this Kalen magic."

Reluctantly, Link took off the broach. Again, his vision was jolted, this time back to its normal self. It took a while to get used to it; everything seemed so blurry. The fortress had disappeared as well. 

"I saw something," he told her, "I'm not sure - but it looked like a huge castle."

"That's where they've been hiding all these years," she said, a look of realisation coming to her face. "Some place hidden by their magic. Sounds like just the kind of cowardly thing the Kalen would do."

"Lets go to it," Link suddenly said firmly, "maybe we can persuade them to help us find the last sages."

"Go to the Kalen? Are you mad?" Tai raised her voice. "For a start, they've been hiding for a hundred years, do you reckon they'll be glad to know that someone has finally found them. Second, how could they help? As for a third, in case you're unaware they happen to be dangerous blasphemers. Or hadn't you heard that they don't even believe in Nura as a god? And fourth, and most importantly, Bren and Darunia will be probably looking for us by now, we ought to go back to him."

"First," Link replied, "they gave me this broach saying they were my friends, and I doubt they did that if they never wanted to hear from me again. Second, I bet you they've got at least as many spies through this country as the Xi have. Third, I happen to be not that fond of your goddess at the moment, or have you forgotten who is helping Ganondorf destroyed right at this moment? And fourth, and most importantly, if you've got any suggestion about how we are supposed to find Darunia and Bren I'll be glad to hear it." 

Tai glared at him, but he was at least partially right. The 'small woods' had seemed to quickly turn into a forest and neither Tai nor Link had any idea where they were. They could have wandered around for days without getting back to the camp. In fact, the best lookout spot for miles must have been the fortress, yet another reason to go there.

"Fine," she at last relented, "but I don't like it."

Link remained silent at that, and led her to roughly where he had seen the Kalen base. When he thought that he was fairly close he (after checking with Tai) put on the broach again. Gently, he pulled Tai by her hand to in front of the huge gate.

"Its there, isn't it?" she asked, screwing up her eyes and looking in front of her. At his surprised look, she explained, "Its strange but when you touch me for a while I can see this faint outline - perhaps the magic spreads or something."

"That it does," confirmed an unfamiliar voice from beside them. They turned to see a brown haired, medium height man behind them. Link immediately got the impression that this man was a dependable ally and he seemed to exude trust. Link couldn't image him having attacked from behind without at least a warning. To Tai, he looked instead incredibly arrogant, and at first glance she hated him. The man was wearing a red robe, that looked similar to what the other Kalen Link had met had wore, but this one had silver lines woven into it. He grimaced as he couldn't help having bad memories of the Sadia brought back.

"Who are you?" Tai asked defensively.

"I am Kaze, but I am not the one who is intruding. Identify yourselves and your purposes," the man answered.

"We want to speak to your leader," blurted out Link, "I... I mean we, need your help."

Kaze raised his eyebrows. "Who?"

"Link, Link of Hyrule. And..."

"Tai, Tai of the Xi." The venom in her words was clear.

"Do you speak for yourselves or your own leaders?" his question was obviously more directed at Tai.

"For ourselves. Or for him really. If this was up to..."

"But luckily it isn't," the Kalen interrupted, "so what do you have to offer us in return?"

"The broach," Link said firmly, holding it up so Kaze could see it.

"We have many of them already, dozens in fact."

"But," said Tai, "you don't have this one, do you? And we do. I think you know whom I work for. You wouldn't want them to have it, would you?"

The threat did not really impress the man. "I could kill you both in an instant. The fortress obeys my commands."

"The fortress? What can a fortress do?" she said, pretending to be unimpressed. If the man were as stupid as most Kalen she had been told about he would easily fall into her trap.

"This," the man said, raising his hand. With a crash parts of the structure became visible again, and out of them started to pour immense quantities of what looked like light. Where the rays touched the grass it instantly began to burn. Slowly the light approached where they stood, making elaborate patterns on the ground so as not to touch the trees. 

"We understand," said Link quickly, "stop it."

Instantly the rays disappeared, but Kaze looked surprised. "I didn't stop them," he murmured before he could stop himself.

A huge grin suddenly spread itself over Tai's face as realisation set in. "Link, you know what I told you about your mother..." she murmured, "Well... Order the fortress to fire at... that tree over there."

Link stared at her, but meeting the defiance in her eyes he wearily complied, lifted his hand in a vague impression of Kaze, and rather feebly said, "Um... shoot...it."

For an instant there was a flash so bright that none of them could see and then, when they could see again, a smouldering pile of ash awaited them. Link was as surprised as Kaze.

"How?" both of them asked.

"Kaze... meet your King."


	19. Nineteen

Almost lazily the sun rose over the horizon to mark the beginning of the new day ****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's note: Slight mistake to report on my part – sorry. Last time I accidentally put summarised some of what was going to happen in the chapter and put in the 'Story so far'. It should be changed now, but I apologise and hope that it won't happen again. There was also some slight mistakes in the story (which I've now corrected) – don't worry, they were so minor that the odds are that you almost certainly didn't spot them.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. Eventually she also collides with Nala's army. She kidnaps Impa and Rauru and among the others only Nala is able to escape.

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again. 

The next morning Raymus, a priest from the Nuran church, finds Darunia and Bren. Meanwhile, Tai tells Link that his mother was a Gerudo, and encourages him to put on the broach given by the mysterious Kalen when he first woke up in Nurai. When he does so he finds that he can see before him a fortress that was previously invisible. The conclusion is obvious – this must be the long hidden Kalen fortress. As they walk towards it they are confronted by a Kalen named Kaze. He shows them the powers that the fortress holds – to shoot powerful light beams out at a Kalen's command. Accidentally Link says for the beams to stop, and they do. 

Tai reveals why – Link is the Kalen's king.

****

Nineteen

For a second the two men stared at each other, both of their mouths open in shock. And then, slowly at first, Kaze kneeled down. The surprise was still evident in his face, but a new emotion was there too - respect.

"What do you command?" he asked.

"You sure about this?" Link asked Tai.

She nodded. "Excuse me if I don't do the kneeling thing too, but you're his - my king."

Link turned back to the Kalen. "There are two people trapped in a dungeon. They're called Sages. We're looking for them. If you have any way of finding them..."

"Easily," Kaze answered, "we have many informants. We have already heard of these Sages. If they are in the country, we can have them here within three days."

"That...that would be good," said Link, "and there's one other thing."

"Anything."

"There are two people in this forest," Tai explained, "An Xi Master and a Goron named Darunia. If you could have them escorted to here."

"They're at the edge of the forest - we have had two people watching them since a few hours ago. They can easily be got here."

"Wow... you are good," said an impressed Link.

The pleasure that swept over Kaze's face at the complement slightly took Link back.

"And could we have some rooms and new clothes please?" asked Tai, "We kind of... slept rough last night."

That order slightly surprised Link, wasn't Tai going a bit far?

Kaze noticed Link's look and hesitated.

"Anything I say can be taken as an order from Link," Tai reprimanded him.

"What? I mean... Yes, what she said," Link agreed, slightly flustered.

Kaze made a signal and the gate swung open. They went down a short corridor, and then through another gigantic door. Here they found themselves in the main entrance hall. It was still made out of stone, yet a gigantic wooden fire was burning in one corner, and so the place was comfortably warm. Two elegant marble steps led up to an upper balcony, and above that the ceiling sloped into a dome. Doors seemed to be everywhere, and through the few that were open he could see long corridors stretching back. Already there was around fifty Kalen lined up, all bowing down to them. No, to him. Embarrassed, Link quickly followed Kaze down one of the many hall.

Thankfully, inside the fortress everything could be seen without the broach, and in fact there was a lot to see. They were many portraits and sculptures to be seen everywhere, and from what Link knew of art (admittedly little) they seemed to be worthy of the rest of the building. Occasionally he would look into a room and see a picture that covered an entire wall, and seemed to be roughly the size of his old room. Even when they were that size they still seemed to be filled with detail. From the glimpses Link got he could tell that the place was enormous – more often that not doors simply led to yet another corridor. 

Tai was even more surprised than Link by the place. She wasn't exactly sure what she had expected, but not this. A wreck perhaps, or a primitive hiding place. Deserted but for old behind the times men. She hadn't expected to children sometimes running past in the middle of play, and never, never had she expected anything on this scale. The Xi Headquarters did not have so expensive carpets or furniture as this. The Xi Headquarters had nothing like this. She was getting a quick lesson about the real strength of the Kalen.

Finally, Kaze stopped at two rooms and indicated the one on the left for Link and the other for Tai.

"If you want anything, just knock at that door," he told them, pointing to the relevant door across the hall before he left.

Link's room was enormous. On the left was a sink and huge wardrobe, which Link soon found out was full of several dozen clothes. Beyond a curtained arch was a square pool to bathe in, which unless he was mistaken seemed to be filled by some naturally hot water from a spring. A volcano or magic perhaps? Directly in front was a balcony and on his right was a huge king size bed. Stunned for a moment, he dropped the belt on which he hung his weapons and went over to the bed. 

For a minute he lay on the enormous covers, trying to tell himself that all this was only temporary. It was just so different to what the orphaned Kokiri boy had been used to. For the majority of his life he had lived in a tiny tree house. He had had to look after himself, well apart from when he was helped by...

No. He couldn't think of her yet. It was still too painful. Lying on the bed didn't feel right any more, so he decided to go and change. A huge mirror showed exactly how dirty that his face was, so he quickly splashed some cold water onto it. The water woke and refreshed him and so he went back over to the wardrobe. To his surprise, most of them were more or less the right size, if too elegant to be feel right. He tried one on and just felt stupid, although the silk in the garment seemed to fit him better than anything he had previous worn. It was not too tight, yet not too loose, and seemed to let a slight refreshing breeze through so that he would never be too hot. After a minute of searching he eventually managed to find a relatively plain garment without the Kalen symbol on (Tai would give a fit otherwise) and he rapidly changed into it.

When he was finished he reattached his weapons belt. Somehow he didn't feel right without it, which was perhaps a worrying sign. Had he really become so used to being a warrior? He walked out to Tai's door and knocked on it. She called for him to wait and after a minute let him in. Her room was more or less the same as his, except it was smaller and slightly less grand. He noticed with a slight grin that it didn't contain a pool either.

"Being a king has some benefits," he remarked.  
"Yeah, well being the friend of a King is better," she retorted. "You get most of the luxury, and none of the responsibility."

He smiled. "But you don't get to order people around..."

"If you dare order me..." she warned.  
"You'll obey," he joked. "Come on, I want to see this fortress of mine."

She gave him a sharp glance. There was something behind that light–heartedness, something not quite right. She wasn't sure that he was finding it easy to change so suddenly from sleeping unprotected in the wild to owning a palace. Let alone the extra responsibilities the second gave. 

Link knocked on the door that Kaze had pointed out, and was slightly disconcerted to find the Kalen appearing what seemed almost instantaneously. The efficiency of this place was almost unreal. Kaze was only too eager to take them on a tour, and soon the two of them began to travel over the castle. After a few minutes it seemed like an endless procession of rooms, wealth and servants waiting around every corner to prostrate themselves before him. Link lost count of the number staircases they climbed or the number of important rooms they were shown.

The one that he could relate to was the armoury, where he found himself suitably impressed. If the place had enough soldiers to go with the amount of swords that were stored here it could easily defend itself three times over. The library was similarly large, an unending storehouse of books, most of which looked ridiculously boring to Link. Who wanted to read 'A Study of the Natural Habitats of Foreign Aquatic Creatures' anyway? How long had it taken that lunatic to write twenty enormous volumes of "Theology and Philosophy : The History of Knowledge"?

It was just as they were leaving that their tour was interrupted by a seemingly star struck servant who couldn't take his eyes off Link. But his message was a reassuring one – Darunia, Bren and some other stranger had been found and already bought to the fortress.

"That was quick," remarked Link, and almost wished he hadn't when he saw the effect on the Kalen.

Strangely even with the place's massive size, within thirty seconds Kaze had managed to guide Link and Tai back to the entrance hall in time to see Bren, Darunia and Raymus strode in.However, there was a worried look on Darunia's face in particular. 

"What's wrong?" Link asked.

"Someone..." Bren paused, as if afraid of the effect it might have, "someone has stolen Saria's body."

*-*

As far as the eye could see the crowds of people were coming. Driven on by sheer desperation they had marched for days without stopping, desperate to get to the border out of this seemingly doomed country. Now they had found it they were pouring over it in their thousands, knowing that their life in this country had finished. And almost half of them were men.

Unknown to these men one reason for their flight was watching them from above a nearby hill. Hail knew that she could not kill them all these people, and trying to attempt to cross into the next country and track them down would be worse. But she was not concerned. To her mind she had succeeded at her destiny. By combining with the double threats of the Sadia and the catastrophic weather she had driven nearly everybody in the land to absolute terror. The men were all fleeing like the disgrace they were. 

With just her gaze she had converted hundreds of women to the cause and set them loose on the countryside. An army, her army, dedicated to cleansing the land. It was hard for some of them to leave the clean and easy lies of their former life and to embrace the death that was the only way. But as Hail had told them, for life to be there had to be death. Even the cutest herbivore survived on killing nature's greenery and in the same just way the predators survived on them. Death was the ultimate glory; the final paying back of what the land had given you. To give it to these men was almost too great a gift for them, but then again, they had taken so much from this place that it was time that they repaid the debts.

It was the non Gerudo men who had first tried to tame this land and thus to steal the heart from it. They had turned the church into a giant bureaucracy, the Xi into a decaying set of guards and the fierce seas into one mainly for pleasant ships and merchants.

At least they had been since she had turned up. She had already managed to virtually conquer the seas around Nurai and no civilian would dream of touching. None of the other pirates survived and hardly any island colony. She had shown the church to be a powerless wreck, and along with the Sadia she was rapidly depleting the Xi forces. 

Yes, her job had been done. The men were going and gone and her disciples could finish any others off. But if her first job had been completed then it only meant that she would have to turn her focus to her second. The second was going to be slightly more complicated. For days she had thought over Ganondorf and what he had said. She had a huge hint in her mind now that she needed to find him again. Everything seemed to lead back to him.

But where would she find him now? She had already knew that the island he had been on was deserted, so where would he go next? In the end she decided to try another lead and she went to interview the prisoners again. She had not enjoyed it that much – the look the old women gave always shook her and she felt weak for not having already killed the man. At her first demanded question ("Do you know of a tall man with greenish skin?") she had seen recognition in their eyes. She hadn't even had to encourage them any further, for the ridiculous (and yet too familiar) man had blurted out that the thought that "Link had defeated Ganon"?

From then they had refused to say any more, but what they had said had been enough. Link – the boy in green who had been in every dream in every night. Surely they must be the same person. Ordinarily of course finding the right 'boy with green clothes' would be next to impossible without more help, but she was already remembering a report of an incident in the capital Asreal. If she had not been so determined to ignore the dreams she would have realised the connection earlier. The tale spoke of a strange boy dressed in green who had been seen actually assisting a Xi a week or two ago in Asreal. Considering the Xi's stubborn pride that was no small thing. And then hadn't her same spies reported that he had been killed in the first earthquake in Asreal later?

Maybe he had survived after all, or maybe the death had been faked so that the Xi could cover him up. Whatever – if there was one place he would be with now, it was with the Xi. He was more than likely in their base now. Except she knew that their traditional Xi Mountain had been nearly abandoned with only a small force situated there. Where would the Xi run to from there?

Except there someone else who could find the Xi for her. The Sadia. They hated the Xi more than anything else in existence (well, maybe that was apart from the Kalen if the histories were true). The Sadia would chase them until they had killed every last one of the church's annoying force. Which suddenly made her task an awful lot easier.

"Regi," she said quietly to the woman on her right, "get the prisoners and four horses. Tell them that we're handing them back over, but that they'd better remain quite and assist us." 

The woman nodded. Hail wished she had found her earlier; she was so much more useful than Tarn.

"Oh... and don't let the others know," Hail grimaced. She didn't like this part. "Tonight we leave to follow the Sadia."

Regi stared at her in amazement, her face half full with terror.

Hail just smiled. "Don't worry, they won't hurt us. And it won't be as hard as you think to follow them. We'll just follow the trail of destruction."

*-*

For over a thousand years the mountain had stood as an impenetrable fortress. Only once before had a group even got close to conquering it. And that had cost the Kalen not only the war, but very nearly their existence. It was the stuff of legend, catacombed by hundreds of tunnels and dungeons, all of which contained more magic than every other place in the kingdom put together. At the top of it was the 'astronomy building', really the oldest man-made structure in the country. Some even said that this was where the ancient prophecies had been collected.

Even the Sadia had so far never been able to get into the heart of the place, always imprisoned first by the long ago heroes. To them, like many people, it was the ultimate symbol of the Xi's strength. Some even said that it supplied the Xi with their strength.

And so the Sadia had learned to absolutely hate the place. It was their dream to destroy it, to crush every last piece of it into dust. And now they finally had the chance to do just that. Their was perhaps twelve Xis left in the place. There were five hundred Sadia attacking it.

Wave after wave of them flew at the building, their great weapons smashing the place into pieces. Huge floods of fire attacked them, lightning, hail and whatever other weapons the Xi's power could muster. The Sadia did not halt; to halt was to be weak. If a Sadia was destroyed when he could have dodged out of the way; so what? There was ten waiting to take his place.

Finally the great rock hulk that had surrounded and protected the Xi was destroyed. The shell was gone; the inside was helplessly exposed. Together the Xi tore down the corridors and through the chambers, each longing to find an Xi to kill themselves.

Twenty of them were lucky, and attacked with such force that the Xi left could do almost nothing to protect themselves. The Sadia swung out their swords, and never before had they fought so viciously or so recklessly. For three minutes one Xi Master and his apprentice managed to hold back a swarm, their swords never stopping as they cut through the air. Parry, attack, defend. Parry and then attack. Lose a sword and continue fighting with bare hands. Not to save anything, but for dignity. The Xi would not go down undefended.

A miracle could have saved them maybe. A fierce battalion of supernatural warriors with powers undreamed of. Such a thing Nura could have done, in the same way perhaps as she had long ago created the Sadia as a test. Probably she had not expected the test to be so successful. But there was nothing she could do now, nothing as long as she was trapped in Ganondorf's sceptre. She had paid a terrible price for mistaken trust, and ironically the one who had been guilt was now part of the Xi herself.

Such ironies of life were lost on that hopelessly resigned Xi Master and his partner. To the old pupil the man gave a nod, a simple way of telling her that her training was complete. She did not deserve to go to the grave without at least that honour. The gratitude on her face lasted to her death, an event which would happen in a few minutes. But to the two of them working together it was an eternity, a moment when finally all life's luggage could be forgotten. They had chosen their form of life, and now they were living it at its highest.

At last the Sadia achieved what they had came for and the blood of the Xi ran until it was dry. Steadily Nurai's worst foe began to destroy the rest of the building. With their bare hands if necessary they scraped away at the rock until it no longer remained. Twelve hours later they left, and true to their word nothing remained but a collection of loose stone behind them. To a casual onlooker it seemed like a cairn for the Xi and for the old order, a memorial of the dead.

And in that case the presumably new order of the Sadia flew on. They could sense where the rest of the Xi were heading. And they knew that it would be a pleasure for them to destroy their other ancient enemy at the same time.

They headed to the secret home of the Kalen.

And Hail followed them.


	20. Twenty

Twenty ****

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Author's note: Hopefully the next couple of chapters won't take too long, but they've got more to rewrite in than most. Then again I have got a few chapters waiting so hopefully these should continue to be released fairly regularly.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. Eventually she also collides with Nala's army. She kidnaps Impa and Rauru and among the others only Nala is able to escape.

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again. 

The next morning Raymus, a priest from the Nuran church, finds Darunia and Bren. Meanwhile, Tai tells Link that his mother was a Gerudo, and encourages him to put on the broach given by the mysterious Kalen when he first woke up in Nurai. When he does so he finds that he can see before him a fortress that was previously invisible. The conclusion is obvious – this must be the long hidden Kalen fortress. As they walk towards it they are confronted by a Kalen named Kaze. He shows them the powers that the fortress holds – to shoot powerful light beams out at a Kalen's command. Accidentally Link says for the beams to stop, and they do. 

Tai reveals why – Link is the Kalen's king. They all commit to obeying him, and at his first order find Bren and Darunia and bring him to the fortress (along with Raymus). Bren has strange news – Saria's body has been stolen.

Meanwhile Hail has decided that she has done enough on her first objective, and decides to move onto the second of killing Nura. In the end she decides that the most likely way she will get to her is by following the Sadia.

Obligingly the Sadia leave an easy to follow trail, which en route includes destroying the Xi Headquarters, and finally heads towards the Kalen fortress...

****

Twenty

Almost lazily the sun rose over the horizon to mark the beginning of the new day. For a few precious hours the land of Nurai had been at peace again. Those creatures that had survived had been content, glad to be of life. But nothing lasts forever; not even Nurai itself. That peace would eventually have to be interrupted, and the fighting carried on. And so those animals that could enjoyed their last relaxing moments and hoped that they would come again.

In the north of the country, not too far away from the great city of Asreal lay the labyrinth Nuran forest. Even a Kokiri might have had trouble not getting lost in its endless maze of greenery. A small way into its borders lay the first of several fairly small hills, and on this hill there was located a massive sprawling fortress.

Near the top of the eastern half of this building one of dozens of balconies stuck out, and on this balcony two figures stood; watching the ever higher sun. On the left stood a young warrior, who could not be more than 20. He was of medium height and was wearing a loose fitting red tunic, which went well with his orange-like hair. His skin was still smooth and not filled with scars like many older warriors had, but his eyes betrayed the great experience behind them. 

Beside him was a slightly shorter girl of around the same age, her typical red Gerudo hair not yet gleaming in the dull light. Her pretty face contrasted with the clothes she had on, which were cut in a design for combat. 

The two were silent for a while, and as the silence grew an expression of worry grew on the girl's face. "Surely you don't believe them?" she asked.

He shook his head slowly, not wanting yet to admit or deny anything. "I don't know," he explained.

"When I was young my mother warned me of the story and told me not to trust anyone who told it," the girl related. "I know we've seen a lot that it looks bad, but..."

"Who would have the power?" he interrupted her. "Who could create something so like a god?"

"That was why I doubted it," she explained. "They say that the Gerudo king managed to capture the Triforce to do his bidding. He... sucked its power somehow, sacrificed a Hylinian princess and managed to give her such power that she was almost god like."

The warrior thought over what he knew of the Triforce, and how hard it was to obtain. "But what did he gain?" he asked. "Did Nura make him immortal too after she was almost a god?"

"He wouldn't have gained a thing," she told him. "According to the story she killed him after she had become a god. He dedicated his life to her... he loved her so much that he spent his life working for her impossible wish."

Kaze suddenly appeared from the window behind them. "Except," he said in his deep voice, "she wasn't a real god. She still has human feelings – look at this petty attempt to make a land better than the rival gods that had spawned her. She made higher mountains, bigger plains, even more legends and even more powerful enemies. But that wasn't her only difference. 

"To be a god she would have had to be immortal; and as much as she may appear it, she isn't. Since the day she was created she has known that one day the royal family of Hyrule would take revenge for their fallen princess. She killed their Hail, Princess of Hyrule and they declared that one day another Hail would kill her. She is mortal."

This went too far for the girl, and a look of anger came onto her face.

"Tai..." the warrior tried to calm her.

"It is a stupid story," she said quietly but determinedly. "I have spoken to Nura myself, and she is no mortal."

"Look around you!" Kaze replied to her. "This god of yours can not even escape from an old king who no longer rules. Were you not there yourself when the Triforce easily managed to stop Nura's greatest foe?"

"That's enough," the warrior said sharply. "We have enough to worry about tonight without petty arguing. Are the defences ready?"

"Yes, my lord," Kaze bowed down in regret for his angry words.

Link stared out at the endless land before him. Yet again it was his responsibility to save a whole world. But now he knew not how to. He had no time travelling tricks, or shape changing masks to help him. But he had an army, an army of men and women ready to die to help him. Now all he needed was to figure out what he had to do with them. 

There must be something he could do. There always had been before. Surely he could not lose this time?

*-*

Hail turned over once more in her blankets and kept her eyes firmly shut. She had been trying to get to sleep for so long, but always at the back of her mind was a slight fear that she actually didn't want to. She was afraid that it would happen again, and that with one more time she would be driven insane.

But she had already gone for two nights without sleep and she couldn't last for much longer. Finally, her mind could no longer hold back the tide and her worries were washed over by inevitable tide of slumber.

Slowly, peacefully, she sank into the night...

__

The horse galloped over the green plains of Hyrule, its feet sending dust up into the air.

Hail, riding the creature, stared around at her at the landmarks in the distance. The castle, the forest and the giant mountain far away in the north-east.

Her horse was at the head of a whole army of horses, who charged up the old dusty path. They came to the top of a slight hill, and galloped down it again. Standing in front of them, ominously silent, was a row of armoured soldiers. At their head a young boy carried a simple flag with a blue background and three yellow triangles on it.

She stopped her horse and let her army carry on. Their red hair shining in the sun, the Gerudo warriors drew their swords, and prepared to curve them down deep into their enemy's heart. A flood of arrows sailed over her head and into the Hylinian army. Down five men fell.

The front row drew their swords and brought them up to meet the horseback riders swords. The long curved Gerudo blades proved to be easily stronger than the Hylinian models with their first blow. More arrows sailed into the Hylinians, and swords crashed. She was invincible.

And then the Gerudos started to fail.

Horses in terrible pain collapsed to the floor, and the death screams of their owners rose above the general babble of warfare. More and more Gerudos charged into the trouble area, and every last one of them died. Her army was halved in minutes. She had no choice, and so she galloped forwards herself.

In front of her she saw another friend die, and for a moment their falling body blocked her vision of her adversary. And then she could see him; the monster standing their with his red-soaked sword, his green tunic covered with more patches of blood. She yelled in anger and pushed her sword through his murderous body. He dropped to the floor, his face staring up at her in agony.

"Link," she whispered once as she at last recognised the man, and saw that he was now dead, "Link!

She was back, back in the welcome world where the air was still cool and the dark still ruled. Breathing in heavily she allowed her to body to relax from the tense form it had taken. One more dream was over, one more time she had survived.

But before long the sleep was coming back and cruelly tempting her again. Fiercely she thought over strategy and recounted strange poems which somehow were left in her brain. Anything to tide off the inevitable.

Still cursing the night the sleep took over again and her eyes clamped themselves firmly shut. Her brain dulled, the spark stopped, and she was trapped once more.

_The man had a worried and tired face. For a moment she felt glad that his clothes weren't green, but in the next moment she felt puzzled by why she was bothering over something so trivial. Then the thought was gone completely and she was once more focused on the old man before him. On him and the ropes that were now binding her to a stone wall._

"Why are you doing this?" she said.

"Be quiet," he said dismissively.

"But..." she protested.

"Look," he suddenly shouted, "you're no longer a princess now. I'm not a courtier having to bow every time I just hear the name Hail. Forgot your name. Forget your history - you have no history. You're a nobody now"

But he was wrong; she did have a history. She could remember almost every moment since she was four and was given her first crown. Remembering her previous life and her previous friends was all that had kept her going in the last month. And how could she ever forgot the time she had met him.

__

She laughed. "You'll never get rid of me. By the Triforce itself I promise you that Hail will follow you and your ridiculous Gerudo idiot until the day you die."

He hit her sharply, and she gasped as her head smacked back against the wall. Then he grabbed it and brought his own right in close.

"Tomorrow morning you will die for her and through you she will become greater than your mind could ever comprehend." He drew back, and this time it was he who laughed. It was a horrible sound, the joy almost drained out and replaced by a seemingly fundamental instability. He pointed over to a glowing corner in the dark room. "Your wonderful Triforce is over there thanks to you. Be my guest and swear on it. I'll be interested to see how much good it does you."

How could she have ever liked him? Then again how could he ever like that wretched girl Nura? If he couldn't see it, she could. She was using him as much as he had used her. She did worry slightly - what terrible plans had the two of them drawn up?

At a call from another room the man left her, and she was once more on her own in the dark room with the frightening cold. She shut her eyes and tried to stop the shivering. She would die honourably if it was the last thing she did.

Nura was at the root of this and she would get her revenge. Someday, somehow. Slowly repeating it over again to herself she let the dark seep in and take over. She would get revenge, she would.

Five hours later she was killed.

*-*

"The Xi!"

Raymus quickly ran over to where the Kalen guard had called from. He clambered up a ladder and onto the guarded wall where many people were already quickly accumulating. Was it true? Had the Xi really come here?

He grabbed one of the Kalen's vision enhancing devices and stared through it at the horizon. Sure enough, around one hundred unmistakably Xi warriors were coming. No one could mistake the undoubtedly arrogant way in which they always did. They carried little; only five pack horses were treading behind them, and none of the Xi themselves were carrying more than two weapons and standard rations. If this was their force in exile, it was not one to inspire fear at first glance. He could feel the contempt in the Kalen beside him. 

"Aren't we going to let them in?" he asked to a nearby guard.

The Kalen had been remarkably tolerant with him seeing as he was so symbolic of the organisation they had always hated. But somehow they had forgot that he was part of the church after Link had commanded them to, and now saw him only as an ally. Whether they would do the same with the Xi was another question. The Xi was well known for the way they still sneered at even the memory of the 'dead' Kalen.

The soldier just pointed across to the main courtyard, where Link was standing with Tai and Kaze, who had now seemed to become a sort of unofficial second-in-command. Link was talking quickly to Kaze, who did not seem too happy. Finally he relented, and shouted out, "Prepare for going visible!"

Many of the Kalen looked worried at that. It had been a long time since they had turned off the castle's invisibility spells and they couldn't help feeling vulnerable without them.

"They've come," Bren muttered as he moved up to behind Raymus. Earlier in the week that they had spent here he had secretly contacted the Xi, without too much hope that they would respond and actually come. In fact the only reason they had probably arrived was that they had nowhere else left to go.

For a second the castle seemed to blur and glow slightly as it finally revealed itself, but then it was back to normal, or at least what was normal for the people inside. Even from this distance, exclamations of surprise could be seen from the Xi. The Kalen looked around nervously.

"Lower the gate!" was Kaze's next order.

Slowly the huge chains began to unwind and the gate began to make its way down. A welcoming party of Kalen led by Link made their way over to it. Bren and Raymus quickly made their way down and over to join them.

"This should be interesting," commented Rein.

For five minutes the Xi obstinately refused to speed up, taking their time as they made their way through the forest to the fortress. Eventually a group of three Xi Masters and two Xi warriors made their way through the gate.

"Darius!" shouted out Bren to his old friend. "You came. There is so many of you, how?"

Darius, the old Master of the Xi, ignored him for a moment; he was staring around the castle as if making up his mind up whether or not he could attack and manage to conquer it. Either he simply realised that he couldn't or for another reason he eventually stopped, and turned to face Link who was at the centre of a group of defensive Kalen.

"Apprentice Tanya!" he ordered. "Why are you not kneeling in respect?"

Blushing crimson she slowly started to bend down.

Kaze stopped her with his own shout, "How dare you! You shall not order friends of the King around in that way."

Kaze quickly glanced over at Link, slightly afraid that he would not approve. Kaze had never quite been able to predict his new master's wishes. However Link was silent, and his face displayed no emotion. The Xi were taken back by Kaze's remark though. Darius stared at Link hard for a moment, before asking, "Tell me Hyruler. How did you fool these poor people into thinking that you were some mythical King."

He realised that he had gone too far when not only Kaze, but most of the other Kalen, drew their swords angrily and glared at him. At a word they would have gladly killed the old man.

"Stop this!" Link commanded. He was slowly starting to get used to his new role. "Kalen, put back your swords. Darius, if you wish to join us it would not hurt to pay some respect. I am willing to share command with you, but only if you are civil."

There was a pause while the old man considered. Finally he consented, "As you wish. Does this place have room for my Xi?"

Link looked at Kaze, who nodded, and said, "As long as two warriors share each room we should be fine."

The initial confrontation over, the Xi gradually made their way over to the door into the actual fortress where several Kalen waited to show them to where they could leave their things. For a while everyone remained silent while the enormity of what had just happened sunk in. Then slowly their discipline reverted back and they went back to their jobs.

Darius (who had not yet gone inside) walked over to Bren. "What has happened over the last month?" he asked.

"I thought my reports had made that clear," Bren replied.

"So it is truly hopeless for this world?" asked Darius.  
"Not quite," Bren admitted, "the Kalen experts believe if we can locate a Hylinian named Ganondorf Dragmire and trap him in some magical realm that the Distile can still be stopped."

"How do we trap him? And where is he?"

"We don't know where he is. We are trying to locate him now. As for trapping him, that's the whole problem; we're missing six of the seven sages that are needed to completely trap him. We know that at least one of them is dead."

"Seven of them is essential?"

"We thought so, but the sage we have with us thinks that it's at least worth a try at capturing him with less than seven sages."

Darius nodded and started moved on again; at the moment things were definitely looking pretty bleak. And he had a feeling things would get worse. He knew them too well to think that the Sadia would stop until they had completely destroyed them.

"By the way," said Bren, "where did all the extra Xis come from?"

Darius smiled. "They were deserters who suddenly designed to join back in again. Their employees had either fired them because there wasn't any work left or were dead."

Bren was disgusted. "You let those mercenaries back in?"

"A lot of them only left because they were disappointed that we weren't actually doing anything," explained Darius. "Now many of them feel passionately that they want to help somehow and they thought this was the best way."

The Xi had always had a big problem with people leaving it for the lure of the huge amounts people such as the pirates had paid them. Bren had never realised that it was quite this big a problem.

Still thinking hard he made his way over to the fortress wall where Tai was standing. She too was obviously in deep thought, and didn't even notice him as he made his way over to her. Finally she was broken out of her trance and she turned to look at him.

"For a moment I thought they were actually going to fight," she commented.  
"Yeah," Bren agreed, "it did get a bit tense."

"A pity," commented Rein, breaking out from his usual silence, "it would have been fun to see who would have won."

Tai glared at him, realised that she was glaring at Bren and suddenly stopped, and then when she saw the resultant smirk that Rein put on Bren's features started glaring again.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked the spirit.

"Life," he said dryly, "trust me, when you've experienced as much of it as I have you'll find out how completely pointless it all is."

"Ignore him," Bren told her. "I've been with him a long time and I know he really cares about some things. He's just covering up some long hidden secret."

"You'll find out," Rein said bitterly.

"He's right about some things though," said Tai. "My whole life I've spent worshipping Her and now..."

"The Kalen getting to you? Ignore them," advised Bren.

"No... But they're right, right about so many things. I know Her, Nura, better than any of you and they're right, it's hard to detect but... She's got emotions, human emotions. And I've seen what the Triforce can do here. That isn't even half of the Hyrule's Gods power, yet she can't stop it. Lets face it, they're right, they're always been right."

"Are you sure?"

Tai paused, knowing that she was about to betray everything she believed in. "Yes."

Bren just nodded, and then walked slowly away.

He was replaced by Link. He saw her saddened face from a way away and came over to see if there was anything he could do. This time she noticed the person coming over, and turned to face him with a smile when she saw that it was Link. She felt comfortable with him now at least. He waited to see if there was anything she wanted to say.

"You did well," she at last complemented.

"At what?" he asked.

"At the whole being a King leadership thing," she told.

"Did I?" He was genuinely surprised at her comment. "I felt like a huge fake."

"You managed to sort out that mess," she said, gesturing over to where the Xi and Kalen had confronted each other.

"Thanks," he said, and then they both fell silent.

They both watched the horizon, knowing that any danger would come from there. Luckily for them, they didn't know quite how close they were to it.


	21. Twenty-One

Twenty-One ****

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Author's note: Sorry for the delay – pure laziness on my part

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. Eventually she also collides with Nala's army. She kidnaps Impa and Rauru and among the others only Nala is able to escape.

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again. 

The next morning Raymus, a priest from the Nuran church, finds Darunia and Bren. Meanwhile, Tai tells Link that his mother was a Gerudo, and encourages him to put on the broach given by the mysterious Kalen when he first woke up in Nurai. When he does so he finds that he can see before him a fortress that was previously invisible. The conclusion is obvious – this must be the long hidden Kalen fortress. As they walk towards it they are confronted by a Kalen named Kaze. He shows them the powers that the fortress holds – to shoot powerful light beams out at a Kalen's command. Accidentally Link says for the beams to stop, and they do. 

Tai reveals why – Link is the Kalen's king. They all commit to obeying him, and at his first order find Bren and Darunia and bring him to the fortress (along with Raymus). Bren has strange news – Saria's body has been stolen.

Meanwhile Hail has decided that she has done enough on her first objective, and decides to move onto the second of killing Nura. In the end she decides that the most likely way she will get to her is by following the Sadia.

Obligingly the Sadia leave an easy to follow trail, which en route includes destroying the Xi Headquarters. The Xi have however already moved out and decided to join their formers enemies the Kalen at their fortress. Thus the Sadia too are soon heading towards the once hidden castle...

****

Twenty-One

It was just after the remains of lunch had been cleaned away that the Sadia finally found the Kalen fortress. 

Through the darkened sky came a flying mass of grey; a cloud of power. The metallic flow seemed to gleam as if some light within illuminated it, creating an overwhelming aura of confidence. As they saw the still not invisible again fortress the front part of the mass broke off. The endless shapeless masses flowed into endless eagles, and the sky seemed to be suddenly dotted with silver. To the defenders it may have looked like an infinity of warriors, but in truth in was little more than one hundred. A fifth of the five hundred strong force.

To some of the Sadia carving their way through the sky, the slight confidence on their enemy's faces should have been puzzling. Perhaps they did notice it, but simply disregarded as a last act of bravery. Or maybe it was too late for them to turn now. Whatever the reason none of the Sadia turned around, even as lines along the castle began and shine. 

As the Sadian force soared towards the castle, energy was collected in that building, and shot from the collectors to one focal point. For several seconds the light was allowed to flow in unrestricted, and soon a thin metal rod there was shaking as the enormous forces swirled beside it. And then the order came and it was released.

Twenty or so Sadia near the rear of the formation watched in astonishment as their comrades met their end. For out of the castle was flung a light so bright it easily matched the heavens. Where it cleaved the Sadia were lost, and on to the ground below water fell. A rain storm was created as the liquid the Sadia were based on was released. Occasionally to accompany it came a more macabre scene, as the Sadian hearts also obeyed the rules of gravity. But to the defenders they were too hard to see, and too hard to write symbolic meaning into. For the water's purpose and meaning were clear – an oil to anoint the victors with. After all, as many thought, how were the Sadia to even get near the castle, let alone attack it with their defending beam of light? Yes, it was clear in their minds.

The first battle was won.

A huge cheer arose from them at the victory, and some of the especially more naive members shouted in joy. They thought that the battle was over. But standing on the highest tower Link and the other members of the ruling group still looked worried.

"What do you think they'll try next?" Link asked.

His answer was soon given. This time the second wave of the Sadia went in twelve single file columns, each one quickly darting back and forward to try and avoid being shot by the beam. The tactic seemed to work at least partially, for at least six of the columns managed to arrive at the fortress. When the successful warriors arrived safely inside the stone walls they morphed back into their human shapes.

But the defenders were ready for them. Several rows of fighters stood ready with bows and arrows, and on the order fired straight at their enemies. Several of the Sadia managed to dodge the hail of arrows, but those were all met by yet another group of prepared warriors who had been chosen out for their ability with swords.

"Is the guard by the shield ready?" asked Kaze quietly to a nearby guard, who instantly nodded.

Link looked at him curiously, and so Kaze explained that, "The fortress' attacking power is controlled by the power of one of the first Kalen shields. It's hung up in the main hall. If they manage to destroy it..."

The Sadia hanging invisible in the air behind them, the equivalent of his hands still clutching a stolen one of the Kalen's light bending toys, smiled. For a moment he debated whether to stay for the possibility of more information, but the lure of such a target was too appealing. He laughed once to show his confidence and superiority, dropped the pretty broach that had been hiding him, and morphed into an eagle form.

On the tower a guard saw him first, and his shout alerted the others. For a moment Link and his company stayed seemingly paralysed as the revealed creature dived down to the doors that led to the main hall. As he dropped from sight they finally all decided that moving again would be a good idea.  
"After it!" Link commanded, and he threw a rope down over the rail surrounding the tower. A moment later and he was climbing, almost slipping, down it. Tai and Bren closely followed him.

Two Xi were stationed down there the main doors, and they ran up to try and stop the Sadia. Dutifully it changed back into a warrior form but with the ease it avoided their sword blows it might as well still be a flying bird. Desperately they continued, but this Sadia was a particularly experienced opponent and in a moment soon saw both of them lying cold on the floor.

However the distraction had allowed enough time for Link to catch up with it. In a moment, Link's sword was out and heading dangerously near the Sadia's body. The Sadia uneasily glanced at Bren and Tai running up, and decided to try and settle the matter quickly. Ignoring Link's sword for a moment while he judged it not to be a risk, he swung his own weapon down. While Link was still trying to move away from the dangerous blade, the Sadia quickly kicked out sharply. The foot collided with his stomach, and Link went flying into the nearest wall, his breath totally knocked out of him.

Tai, realising she would never catch up with the magical being now as it started to sprint off again, altered her strategy. She dropped to her knee, pulled out a bow and quickly aimed. Her arrow cut easily through the air, and the weapon found itself embedded in the Sadia's body. But she had missed the heart, and the arrow was less than a scratch to it in importance.

Nervously she aimed again. This was it, there was no time left. If she missed now then it would be all over. The Sadia had already smashed through the doors and dealt with the guards who had been supposed to be defending the shield. Bren was running still, but he was only half way there. She had to hit the Sadia. This would make up for some of her mistakes, if only she could get the shot right. Silently, she released the string on the bow, and hoped.

For a moment time seemed to stop for all those watching. It seemed almost ridiculous to expect that this small insignificant little bit of flying wood could deal with the mighty metal hulk. Yet, the arrow was heading for the Sadia's heart. It was going to hit...

Carelessly, the Sadia plucked the arrow from the air and snapped it in half. Then, knowing that he had done his duty, he pulled down the shield hanging on the wall. Still smiling, he prepared to snap it in half...

Bren's arrow didn't miss. Staring in horror, the warrior's body dissolved and the shield went crashing to the floor. Heavily. Too heavily. In horror the people watching saw the shield crack in half; its old wood deteriorated by the passage of time and finally pulling the surrounding metal apart.

The second battle was lost.

*-*

"They've stopped fighting?" Link asked weakly, as he stared out from the tower which he had just climbed back up to.

"Just when Bren nailed that Sadia," Kaze confirmed.

Realisation flooded in. "They don't realise that the shield is broken," Link realised. "They only know what happened while the Sadia was alive, and they think that he failed in his task."

"Then they must have some other plan," muttered Raymus.

He was right. Shortly afterwards, another group of Sadia broke off from the main party and flew over to the fortress. The group was too small to be an attacking force, and there was something not quite normal about it. As it came closer he could see that instead of being the normal eagle shapes in formation, it was in fact a small greyish blur. It reminded him slightly of the cloud he had seen when the Sadia had first been released. But this one had an important difference – it was dragging along a white flag. Link instructed the defenders to leave them alone, but he did not feel totally confident about the decision. Warily the defenders watched the Sadian group fly over their heads. It crossed the battlements, the balconies and the courtyard and kept going. Finally it descended to within a few metres of the party on the top of the tower.

"What do you want?" Link asked, more boldly than he felt.

In response a head erupted out of the cloud and began to speak. 

"We have a deal to make."

The voice was an abyss of icy cold, and Link shivering as he listened to it, thinking that even the cruel laugh was better than the actual speech. It hinted of power, and of death. It was one unified strong force, but reverberated of many. It taunted him for every mistake he had made in his life and every person he had lost. Especially...

"What?" he asked. 

"You leave the fortress." It made it sound so simple, a task that one not only could but also should do. There was magic in that voice, and Link did not think that it was magic someone would want to get mixed up in.

"We decline," Darius said immediately. "This fortress is an important asset."

"And," continued the Sadia, its voice unmoved, but then again it sounded as if it had never been moved, "we return you four hostages."

Link stared at the creature's steel eyes curiously; trying not to let his eyes stray onto the rest of the headache inducing swirling cloud. The eyes were bad enough as they were – dark pools that lacked emotion. For a second he did a sharp turn around. No, everyone who was supposed to be here was nearby. There was nobody else in sight. Who were they talking about?

Then at the verbal signal the blur slowly morphed apart. First came five Sadia, and then revealed among them were four extremely worried prisoners. Unconsciously Link let out a gasp – he knew all of them. First there was the wisest women he had ever known, her grey hair drenched with sweat but her eyes still sharp. Then came the man who had awoken him from a seven year sleep and next to him the girl who had first led him to think that there was good in the Gerudos. She looked especially bewildered by her surroundings. Finally there was the princess he had once been engaged to. Impa, Rauru, Nabooru and Princess Ruto. 

"Where did you get them from?" he asked.

"We picked them up in different places," the Sadia explained, but the casualness in the words wasn't linked with the voice.

"Link, don't..." Rauru started, but one of the Sadia covered his mouth. His eyes were still free though, and they held message enough in them. 

"They could be our only way out of this mess," muttered Raymus.

For a moment Link stood standing there, picturing the chaos which would happen to them without a strong place to defend from. He knew that he couldn't do just let this place go. But...

But Nabooru was struggling even to stand, and the Princess was taking agonisingly long breaths. But that they were their only chance to save anyone here, or even save those that they could by letting them escape to Hyrule. But they were his friends.

"Your answer?" the Sadia asked.

A moment of silence. Two. And then...

"No."

In an instant his bow was in his grip and his hands seemed to be working by themselves. Three arrows were placed in the bow, and two of the five Sadia were struck down. Following Link's lead, Kaze charged at the Sadian warriors. Struck by surprise, he neatly managed to shove his sword through one on the left, dive under a blade from the right and then sweep round to finish off the attacker. 

"You have no honour..." was all the last one could get off before Tai finished it off.  
"I value my friends over my honour," was Link's only reply.

*-*

Regi was dead.

Hail had only been gone for a few moments, and when she came back Regi was staring face up at her, her eyes a horrible bland dullness. Her corpse was only marked by a red stain in the left side of her chest. Dead and the two prisoners gone. Perhaps it was better this way, she pondered. Maybe she had to do this alone.

She was so close now, and yet her head had gone a blank. She had found the Sadia, and the fortress that they seemed to be battling and she guessed that was where she should head. But how to get through the battle swirling around her was another matter.

"Look who we have here." 

She spun around quickly to be confronted by the face of the man she had been looking for, Ganondorf Dragmire.

"So I did find you here," she replied.

"Yes..." he said, almost lazily. "I've come here in time to be sealed back into the Sacred Realm. Apparently that's the only way to get back to the fun of Hyrule, and some god or something rather insists on it. You never know, maybe sometime I'll get another chance to have some fun."

"Nura," Hail said determinedly, "I want her."

"Have her," was Ganon's only answer, but he hesitated for a minute. "But first you must promise to command her to send me to the boy."

She nodded, and watched nervously as he scornfully threw the sceptre down to the ground. She walked over and picked up, hardly able to believe that she had come so close to her objective at last. So many bodies had littered the way – enemies and friends. But the cycle of death would always claim, and it was time for her to help it for the last time.

Even holding the sceptre made her slightly giddy, but the moment she tried to communicate with she was completely giddy. The ground didn't feel as steady, and even the colours of the objects around her looked really to leap into new combinations at any moment. Breathing heavily she calmed herself, and sent Ganon's wish.

At once a power seemed to leap from the rod she held, and it was if a geyser had gone off. A slightly resentful geyser maybe, but still an almost reckless amount of unrestrained power. At once the man before shot out of reality, and somehow she could feel him instead somewhere in the fortress in front of her.

Hail was blinded for a second, but soon really to finally get it over with. No longer bothering to try keep control she drew deeply on the sceptre and its power. It flooded through her, and once more her senses were overcome. She screamed out her command, and even in the deafening noise it was not lost. Instead it was caught, and amplified until it was now her head screaming, but this time screaming with pain. And then she was there.

And ready to complete her last command.

*-*

__

Revenge.

The single word floated through the forces as they waited their turn to attack. They should have known; should have expected what had happened. But they had been led aside by their dreams of worthy opponents. They would never, ever sink that low as their enemies always did. If they had to wipe them out by sheer numbers alone, they would do so. 

The huge cloud of warriors shot straight to the fortress, half expecting the hated light to strike half of them out of the sky. But it did not come; for some reason it was dormant. The Sadia did not know why; it did not matter now. If anything, it was probably some immortal power taking judgement on the humans' betrayal.

Bravely the defenders, who seemed to gladly give their lives in order to take down only one or two of the Sadia down, met them. In no longer than a minute it was all over, and the grey had in their possession the outer walls and courtyard.

In a moment they would begin their next attack down through the fortress's corridors, and root every last one of them out. But also… Also there was something else they had to deal with. If what they had seen between the pirate and the man was true…

This land would not be stopped from ending – but could the Sadia still survive? Could they carry their vengeance elsewhere? The boy, the traitorous boy, was trying to go back to his own land. Could not they go there too? They had to join him – they had to use their final secret.


	22. 

Twenty-Two  ****

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Author's note: A couple of days ago I finally finished the complete draft of this story. (Ending up at roughly 75,050 words and 125 A4 pages if you were wondering). Hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to finish the work of HTMLising them and posting.

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. Eventually she also collides with Nala's army. She kidnaps Impa and Rauru and among the others only Nala is able to escape.

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again. 

The next morning Raymus, a priest from the Nuran church, finds Darunia and Bren. Meanwhile, Tai tells Link that his mother was a Gerudo, and encourages him to put on the broach given by the mysterious Kalen when he first woke up in Nurai. When he does so he finds that he can see before him a fortress that was previously invisible. The conclusion is obvious – this must be the long hidden Kalen fortress. As they walk towards it they are confronted by a Kalen named **Kaze**. 

Tai reveals that Link is the Kalen's king, and subsequently the Kalen all agree to commit to obeying him, and at his first order find Bren and Darunia and bring them to the fortress (along with Raymus). Bren has strange news – Saria's body has been stolen.

Meanwhile Hail has decided that she has done enough on her first objective, and decides to move onto the second of killing Nura. In the end she decides that the most likely way she will get to her is by following the Sadia. Shortly after she comes near the Kalen Fortress and finds Impa and Rauru mysteriously gone, she also meets Ganondorf. She agrees to use his sceptre with Nurai inside it to send him to Link. In return she is given the sceptre herself, which she can use to send herself wherever she likes, and finally to complete the second of Ganondorf's earlier commands.

Obligingly the Sadia leave an easy to follow trail, which en route includes destroying the Xi Headquarters. The Xi have however already moved out and decided to join their formers enemies the Kalen at their fortress. Thus the Sadia too are soon heading towards the once hidden castle. When the battle is going badly the Sadia try to negotiate with some hostages – four of the sages. Link declines, but manages to rescue the Sages anyway. In their ensuing rage the Sadia manages to overcome the Kalen/Xi defences, and drive them back into the fortress itself.

****

Twenty-Two 

"Link!" Tai's shout just reached his ears in time. "Behind you!"

He ducked, spun around and shot up his sword into the heart of the Sadia that was flying straight at him. Then he was up, and sprinting back down the corridor. A few seconds later and he had caught up with Tai. She had stopped in the hall and was rapidly shooting arrows back at the Sadia still following him.

"Is that all of them?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied.

The two of them ran on again, and were lucky enough not to be met by any more Sadia until they had reached one of the corridor barricades Kaze had set up. They were safe places, havens against the fights and panic in the rest of the castle. They darted quickly behind the overturned tables while a Kalen covered the corridor from where they had run.

"Jaire…" Tai called out to a Xi she recognised. "Where is everyone?"

Jaire was still breathing heavily as she leaned against the tables but she answered as well as she could. "Raymus…. I think he's a few defence posts back with the sages… Last I heard Bren was defending near the front lines…"

"He must be on his way back," Link told her. "They broke through them a few minutes back."

"Shall we wait?" Tai asked.

For a moment Link hesitated as he tried to think of a different way. No, they would have to part.

"You wait," he told her, "I have to get back to the sages."

She nodded, leaned back for a moment, and then started, "Link, I…"

But he was already gone and almost out of sight. Sighing she leant back down and checked how many arrows she had left. Not nearly enough, she decided. She walked over to the Kalen who was still staring anxiously down the corridor.

"You go back," she instructed him. "I'll take over here."

Not wanting to argue with one of Link's friends the Kalen simply nodded, handed over his spare arrows at Tai's further request and started the long run backwards. Tai lay down and prepared for what she hoped would be a long wait.

"Do you think we'll survive?" Jaire's cynical question rang out in the silence. She had never been one to delay getting to the point.

"I don't know," Tai honestly replied, "but we have to try."

Tai could almost feel the other Xi nod behind her. She waited to see if there would be any more questions, but, as there wasn't she focused again on the corridor. How long would Bren be? A sudden thought came into her mind. Maybe he wouldn't come at all - how did she know that he would survive? 

It had been so long since Tai had seen someone close to her die that she had started to think that it couldn't happen. And that must have been what Link had thought. Even when things had looked their bleakest and Hyrule had been in ruins – Link had saved everyone. He must have thought that he could do anything, only to have his reality shattered by Saria's death.

Bren had been the first person that she could have honestly called a friend. As Saria had been to Link. She didn't know what she would do if Bren died. Then again, at the moment it looked like they would all die. No, she had to stay confident. Life would go on.

"Tai!"

Jaire's shout brought her out of her thoughts and she stared back at the corridor. Two Sadia had appeared and were morphing into their warrior forms. Tai quickly let out a few arrows, but the Sadia simply dodged them.

They were coming closer, almost half way to the barrier. If she didn't get them soon…

Jaire's arrow shot through the heart of the left warrior and both of the Xi turned to aim at the still living right one. He seemed to be able to jump over every shot they sent on target and he simply ignored the arrows that struck harmlessly into the right of his chest. He reached the barricade and swung his sword down onto Jaire who just managed to roll out of the way.

While Tai was hastily pulling out her swords the Sadia somersaulted over the wooden tables in its way. As Jaire bought her sword arcing up the Sadia used the moment he had to twist his body enough to let him kick out his left leg and bounce Tai back into the wall. Then he side stepped, grabbed Jaire's wrist and pulled her sharply down before sticking his sword through her back.

"Tai… Good luck," were her final words.

Tai managed to stand up, and tried to use the mind techniques Bren had taught her to forget the pain and concentrate. Somehow they didn't seem to work very well in real life, or maybe it was just her. Bren had always said that she didn't take things seriously enough.

"I could break your blade in half with my bare hands," the Sadia told her.

"You don't want swords? I can do that. I'll leave mine alone if you forget yours," she replied, lowing her sword momentarily.

"A pleasure," smiled the Sadia as his sword morphed back into his wrist.

Tai threw hers down, knowing that this was probably the most stupid thing she had done, and her aching back confirmed it for her.

The Sadia charged straight at her, to which she waited until the last moment. Then she fell straight to the floor on her front, and used her hands to sweep her legs around, hoping to knock the Sadia down. Hitting the Sadia's legs may have been like swinging your feet into a stone wall, but it worked. For a moment the Sadia was falling…

Again using her hands she tried to flip her feet over her head and down onto the Sadia's back. The Sadia fell even more sharply onto the ground as she collided with it, and suddenly she had it pinned. Picking up her sword again, but using the handle on it so she at least stayed a little true to the idea behind the fight, she tried to stab the Sadia in its back.

"No honour," she heard the creature mutter, and then to her amazement she saw the back of the Sadia she was facing morph into its front, its smiling but now angry face staring up at her. As she had been aiming for its heart from the back of its body the handle fell uselessly into the wrong side of its torso. The Sadia thrust its hand up, and grabbed her by the throat.

"And now you will die," he whispered to her. Desperately she kicked him as hard as she could, anywhere she could – but it was useless. Her throat was being squeezed tighter and tighter, and now she could not breathe. It was ending, ending before she had had time to tell so many people so many things… 

"I am sorry," the new harsh voice did not surprise her as much as the body that had been holding her had just dissolved. She saw a long metallic rod that had obviously killed the Sadia in its place, and following it back she saw that it was morphed out of the owner of the voice. 

Another Sadia.

"Why?" she asked, although she still found it slightly hard to talk.

"He broke our law and was dishonourable," the Sadia explained. Even now its voice sounded no less hostile to her. "No Sadia should use the changing abilities against a human. If you wish, to make up I will let you go. Let you leave the fortress and live."

She considered for a moment. Was this Sadia really offering her the life she had so nearly lost? But…

"No," she answered reluctantly, "where would I go?"

Reluctantly she picked up her sword and faced the Sadia again, this time defiant.

"I respect you for this," the Sadia told her, nodding slowly, "and I am glad you will be able to at least die honourably."

"We will see," Tai said slowly, not wishing what she knew would have to come to start. But finally she started to run at the Sadia. It was not a particularly defiant run, more a resigned one. At each connection between her foot and the floor her body winced. In reply the Sadia smoothly brought his weapon up to block.

"Not today," came Rein's confident voice, and a moment later an arrow was flying through and out of the heart of the dissolving Sadia.

"Bren," she said, trying not to let the relief show in her voice. She ran towards her teacher, and the two Kalen standing near him that had just appeared.

Bren, seeing the blood stains all over her body, and in particular a nasty scar on her forehead quickly took hold of her and helped her to sit down.

"Its alright," he said, knowing it wasn't. Then, he looked at the two Kalen and said, "Take up defence positions. She's going to need some rest before we try to move back."

"We're not going to defend here," Tai said weakly, trying not to faint as her eyes travelled over to Jaire's dead body.

Bren shook his head, "We have to move back. There will be too many of them coming this way soon. We have to join up with the others."

He stopped, knowing that she couldn't hear him any more.

"Alright," he told the others, "we'll move back again. I'll carry her."

The Kalen nodded, and soon the four of them were on their way back to the others, as fast as they could go. Thirty seconds later and the Sadia came to the abandoned barricade. They paused for a moment to check the human body lying there, and the several Sadian hearts still lying where they had fallen from their owners, and then they were moving on again.

*-*

"Are they ready?"

Kaze looked over sharply at Link's question to Rauru. 

Rauru sighed, and then shook his head slowly. "We are not strong enough yet," he admitted. "Especially as we do not know where Ganondorf is now in this land or was in Hyrule. If we just knew one of those, we could at least try…"

"He was in the Spirit Temple." 

Tai's distinctive voice cut through the silence in the newly appointed medical chamber, which had now become a general headquarters as one by one the defence posts fell. The room was packed full of people milling around, and twice as many laid out on the floor. There was a nasty sight of blood of everyone, and every few minutes another new corpse would subtly be taken outside. Into this chaos Tai was hobbling, and besides her came Bren and his Kalen.

"You are sure?" Rauru asked.

Tai nodded. "Yes. I…"

"She's sure," Link interrupted, staring across at Tai and shaking his head slowly. Now was not the time for confessions.

"Better still," came a familiar and confident voice, "I'm right over here."

Sure enough, standing as calmly as if he was an honoured guest, Ganondorf Dragmire was standing in the middle of the chamber in between the sick and injured. His hands, in their terrible pale green skin, still glowed; as if they were reflecting the terrible power that had just been run through them. Indeed, there were still a few glowing sparks on the floor from where he had so suddenly materialised.

"You're human," Link whispered in shock, as several Kalen ran to surround the new intruder who had appeared from nowhere.

"Not always," Ganondorf admitted. "It takes control to keep this form. Sometimes, I do not have the willpower to do so. But… I am distracting you. I have come here in peace, believe it or not. Return me to my prison; I will not fight back."

It hurt to say that. It stung to be here at all. But, after all, he could not escape destiny. If Hail really was to bring this land down he really had no desire to go with it. If he guessed correctly he thought he could see what the Sages and the boy wanted to do. By trapping him again, they would cut off his power from the main world, and thus his spells would fail. His command to destroy Hyrule would be reversed – and in the same way the ancient magic that had spared Link, Zelda and the Sages and brought them here would also work backwards. What they meant to do with the rest of the rabble here was beyond him. 

Link nodded at Rauru, and the oldest Sage returned to the corner where the other four sages stood. 

"Now!" he told them.

The five formed their circle, and slowly began muttering the old Hylinian magic. Then they raised their hands and balls of pure energy flew out from them. Rauru's yellow sphere of shining power was the first, and Darunia's strong red magic was not far behind. But even as all five of their magic's combined Link thought there was something wrong. 

"The master sword…" Rauru muttered. "We need it…"

"That would be this," Darius said, pulling the sword from inside his robes and throwing it to Link. Tai hung her head slightly at guilt that she had given it to the Xi. There was, after all, another secret that she hadn't told Link. 

"Why did you not give it back before?" asked Kaze angrily.

"Quiet," said Link, he himself not speaking loudly as he held up the powerful sword. The power floating in the air above the Sages' heads immediately flew into it, and the blade began to glow a deep red colour.

Link ran forward, hoping the power would not run out before he could return Ganondorf. As he did, sparks began to fall off the sword and fly out, most of them harmlessly hitting the floor. One or two of them struck Ganondorf, who winced in pain. But Link was right next to him now, and he lifted the sword above his head, ready to finally finish this.

"Be careful!" called Bren.

For another few sparks had hit Ganondorf, and something very strange had started to happen to him. It looked a bit like a Kalen going invisible for Ganon's shape had began to blur. But instead of swirling into nothing he was instead seemingly changing into something completely different. Link waited, not able to see where to strike. Finally, Ganondorf's image became sharp again, and Link bought the sword down in a rush…

Another spark flew out, and Ganondorf's shape suddenly blurred so quickly that Link hardly had time to stop then sword. And then, the image sharpened again. And this time it didn't matter if the sparks had hit it, as the creature didn't seem to mind.

Ganon, in his enormous monstrous form, had returned.


	23. Twenty-Three

Twenty-Three  ****

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Author's note: I'll be surprised if anyone even notices this now with the horrible new system, but anyway enjoy the penultimate chapter...

****

Story so far: -

Tai, a gerudo, summoned the power of her god **Nura** and used the power to free **Ganondorf Dragmire**. Ganon captured Nura's power and used it to destroy Hyrule. However, **Zelda** and **Link **awake in the alternate dimension of **Nurai**, the land that Nura created, and also the homeland of the gerudos.

****

Tai also wakes up in Nurai, but discovers that Ganon who she always supposed to be her king, is actually not that role any more. He has not been for the last 17 years. Instead she decides to join a group of incredibly skilled warriors called the** Xi**, who may be able to tell her where the real gerudo king is. However, instead she finds that she no longer cares about the Gerudo king and just wants to learn about the Xi ways from her teacher **Bren. **While completing her second task she finds that for a brief moment that her body seems to control itself without her input.

Zelda is given the new name of **Hail **as a joke when she is forced to become a pirate. But gradually she finds that she can no longer remember her old life, and her old thoughts and emotions seem invalid. She takes over as the pirate captain and soon her name reverberates around the country as one to be feared. For Hail is the prophesised figure who will appear shortly before the **Distile,** the end of the world. This new 'Hail' seems to live up to the legacy that had been told of – not even a fleet fifty times bigger than hers can defeated her.

Link is awakened by a priest of the Nuran church who is called **Nala.** However, while Link is still confined to bed a **Kalen **(a mysterious group who all the Nuran people seem to hate) breaks in a gives Link a mysterious broach.

Nala reveals that Link's coming is also foretold of in the stories of the **Distile.** The only chance Link has to stop it is to find the six sages who are somewhere in Nura. Hoping to recruit more help Link and Nala travel to Nurai's capital **Asreal **where they are due to meet in the **Glass Temple. **Here Link meets Tai (although he does not know who she is) and the two become uneasy friends. 

Nurai's history is revealed to Link in a meeting inside the Glass Temple, however half way through an earthquake (one of the prophesied signs of the Distile) strikes. While trying to evacuate the building a huge D'Ran knife that long ago had been used in sacrifices falls to the floor. To the horror of Nala and Tanya it falls on Link and kills him. Link finds himself in a place beyond death, where those that call themselves gods live. He learns here that his infinite chances have run out, and he has only one left. Here all knowledge is stored and much of it flows into his head. He learns of an old man called **Rein** who was struck by lightning while being attacked by a wolf, and also of Hail's plans to defend herself against Black. 

When Link returns once again into the real world he has lost all his memories, although a witch manages to restore them through Nala at least far back as the two met. He continues to dream of Rein, who became after he was struck by the lightning, a wondering spirit who inhabited people's bodies until they died. He later realises that Rein's spirit is actually now inhabiting Tai. He manages to set it free, but instead it travels into Bren, one of its old companions. It will be impossible to ever split them again.

But there is worse, much worse coming. There is another earthquake and in this one Nurai's worse enemy – the **Sadia **– is set free. A mysterious metallic people, they can change their shape at will. Within a few seconds they have travelled several miles from what was their mountain prison to Asreal. 

Link battles one, but is easily defeated. In the last moment before what would be his death he unconsciously calls on the power of the Triforce and the Sadia are banished back into their mountain prison.

Deciding that the time has come to rescue the sages the church organises two groups to scout out likely areas for where they may be imprisoned. Nala and a small army are lucky, and quickly manage to find and rescue **Impa** and **Rauru**. Link, Tai and Bren manage to defeat the temple guardian they are assigned to and rescue **Saria **and **Darunia**. Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and regains his memories. But the temple guardian awakes later, and as a last revenge, he releases the Sadia again.

Hail is met by Ganondorf who tells her of her ultimate destiny – to first clean the Gerudo blood by killing all the man and then to kill Nura herself. She gathers a group of followers and quests around the countryside, killing any men can get hold of. Eventually she also collides with Nala's army. She kidnaps Impa and Rauru and among the others only Nala is able to escape.

Bren gives a potion to Link and Saria which puts them into a strange sleep. Here Link enters Saria's mind and manages to regain his memories. But the Sadia attack their camp, and in the ensuing battle Saria is killed. In the aftermath Link and Tai argue, and end up running away from Darunia and Bren. Later that night they accidentally bump into each other and meet up again. 

The next morning Raymus, a priest from the Nuran church, finds Darunia and Bren. Meanwhile, Tai tells Link that his mother was a Gerudo, and encourages him to put on the broach given by the mysterious Kalen when he first woke up in Nurai. When he does so he finds that he can see before him a fortress that was previously invisible. The conclusion is obvious – this must be the long hidden Kalen fortress. As they walk towards it they are confronted by a Kalen named **Kaze**. 

Tai reveals that Link is the Kalen's king, and subsequently the Kalen all agree to commit to obeying him, and at his first order find Bren and Darunia and bring them to the fortress (along with Raymus). Bren has strange news – Saria's body has been stolen.

Meanwhile Hail has decided that she has done enough on her first objective, and decides to move onto the second of killing Nura. In the end she decides that the most likely way she will get to her is by following the Sadia. Shortly after she comes near the Kalen Fortress and finds Impa and Rauru mysteriously gone, she also meets Ganondorf. She agrees to use his sceptre with Nurai inside it to send him to Link. In return she is given the sceptre herself, which she can use to send herself wherever she likes, and finally to complete the second of Ganondorf's earlier commands.

Obligingly the Sadia leave an easy to follow trail, which en route includes destroying the Xi Headquarters. The Xi have however already moved out and decided to join their formers enemies the Kalen at their fortress. Thus the Sadia too are soon heading towards the once hidden castle. When the battle is going badly the Sadia try to negotiate with some hostages – four of the sages. Link declines, but manages to rescue the Sages anyway. In their ensuing rage the Sadia manages to overcome the Kalen/Xi defences, and drive them back into the fortress itself. Eventually they are all cornered into one room. 

Ganondorf transports into the middle of them, and the sages try to cast enough magic so that he can be trapped again in the Sacred Realm. But, the power of the magic affects magic and he is unable to hold the beast inside him within. To everyone's horror, he once again turns into the monstrous Ganon...

****

Twenty-Three 

It stretched forever.

A mass of swirling power and knowledge in which only a few mortals had ever returned from. For to be in this place, was to be not mortal, and to return and to resume that status was to do something that was equivalent to risinge from death. Of those who did, only the most strong in destiny and will could stop themselves from going mad with the knowledge that had been packed in their heads, drowning out even their own thoughts.

Through this mass of knowledge great beings travelled, with their power so enormous that they dared to call themselves Gods, and to tell their created so. They could find anything here, for this was where all fact and knowledge was stored, the index of existence. No name existed for it, although many could have been suggested.

In the sharpest contrast to this were the four stone columns and platform that stood in the middle, breaking the great tides of power that could be stopped by nothing else. If they could have, the beings there would have destroyed them long ago, but such an ancient force had placed them that even they feared it.

Strangest of all was the thing that stood in the midst of the platform, her body from a mortal but her mind not. Her name? She had had several; but the one that she had been called upon to use here was that of Hail.

In her hand she held a knife; a knife that had lasted millennia. And one of those Gods that were entrapped in that place tried to move apart – but there was no escape from infinity. The blade that Hail held had created something, something whose time had run out.

And so Hail began to speak, speak in a language so old that only those in the chamber would have knowhad any right to known it. But anyone could recognise the terrifying tone of the voice and maybe even the meaning. It was not the very first language and not even the last, but it was one of the first and would be nearly the last.

To Hail standing there the tongue flowed of and out her mouth easily as her breath did. It focused her mind and yet left part of it free and able to explore the place within which it found itself. And left it open to the final desperate attempts from the desperate goddess.

__

I can give you anything you want, she said or communicated in some similar way. It did not matter – Hail would recognise that voice forever. It was that of Nura.

"You can give me nothing that you have not already stolen," she replied with one part of her even while the other was still intoning the ancient dialect.

__

Not you. Even now her voice was still as scornful as it had always been. _To the one you inhabit, to the one you control. You dangle on a thinner thread than you realise._

Hail would have laughed if she could at the utter absurdity in that statement. "I am dead. You killed me – remember? Obviously you have already forgot the desert, and the stone, and the knife I now hold."

__

The one below never even knew of it. She can break through you is she is really pushed. Watch.

At once the swirling hall was gone; not forgotten, never forgotten, but in the backdrop. Green plains stretched below and to the north where the forest stopped small mountains rose. In the centre a circular field lay, and among it played horses. From the aerial view they suddenly flung themselves down (but not dizzily so) till they were among the animals on the ground. Past them rushed two creatures with riders on, engaged in an obviously familiar if still passionately fought race. On one of the racer's faces did their attention focus until they were so close that even his green tunic was out of their field of vision.

And then they jumped.

Instead far below them was a cloudy and dusty mess of a world, a land where grass was only the beach to the sea of mud. Occasionally an island or two of burnt wreckage added contrast. Again down they rocketed, but this time they found a battle taking place. Fifty men were fighting a single woman, but this woman had red hair and similar eyes. This virtual Hail slew all the men in front of the watching eyes, and as the last man fell it was as if their vision was truly clear for the first time. The sea of mud was a sea of bodies, and every man in it screamed out the name of his killer.

__

You are this. Fight back and you will stop it. Nura's speech seemed to reverberate more here.

The watching Hail (as a spirit here, but her body still chanted back among the columns) felt something rise within her. "Not now," she whispered. "I promise this is coming to an end. Hyrule will come back soon, I swear it."

__

You... She... Both of you have not completed your first destiny. There are still men here. Such as this one.

He looked confused, and there were freshly earned scars regularly distributed over his face, but it was still Link who suddenly appeared in front of them_._

Your first destiny was chosen by me and I control it. Finish this and it will be over. Now.

The virtual Hail was gone, and instead it was the one who had thought herself trapped elsewhere who was now in that place. But she still had the sword from the previous Hail, and the blood still covered it.

"Who are you? What's going on?" asked the confused warrior, and then he stared at the women covered in blood before him. "Zelda..."

That name made that something within Hail rise even more strongly until she was powerless to stop it, and out of her mouth spilled a few desperate words. "Link... Help me... I..."

Enough, Hail thought, and found to her surprise that her body was already moving into her normal attacking stance for a fight. She did not want to do this, or hurt the boy in green who haunted her, but she could see no other choice. In the same way that soon Nura would have bow to her, until she had completed her first task she would have to bow to her enemy. How hard could it be anyway?

She ran forward and sliced her sword forward neatly in the air. His eyes still clearly displaying shock and pain – that was a weakness for a warrior, she decided – he unsteadily put his own blade up to block. To her surprise he managed it in time, but it was of no matter. That was only her first strike. 

As he made no attempt to reply in any kind she swung her sword around again and tried to submerge the arguing voice within her. Again he parried. Getting desperate now, and afraid this wouldn't end soon she moved faster. Thrust, parry. Thrust, parry. She moved until her eyes could hardly follow her own hands and yet he defended every strike. He never tried to return a single blow once. She couldn't fail. She had never failed.

"Zelda – is that you?" he asked.

Angry that he had dared her by taking so much attention off, she once again increased pace and still doggedly refused to accept the sweat pouring out of her or the weariness setting in. She was invincible – she had to be. Every man had his weakness. And his – his must be his emotions.

She stopped suddenly. Again he made no move to now attack her. She pulled her own sword toher throat. "Disarm now or your friend dies alongside me." She could feel Nura's pleasure and triumph in the air.

Link stared at her, and said, "Explain first why..." – but her sword was already pushing harder into her neck and so dejectedly he lowered his own. With a nod from her he reluctantly dropped it and kicked it away. "Now..." he started.

"Now this ends," Hail said, and even the step forward was a struggle as she tried to stop the other princess inside breaking lose. But she managed to stay in control and she was free to take that last mighty sweep against the boy in green. Then it would be over. Then Nura over, and her revenge with it.

Link bowed down, his eyes closed. He still did not even try to defend himself. Maybe he was regretting not learning from his friends how to fight hand–to–hand. But he certainly didn't look depressed – in fact, he almost looked elated. Certainly she had never seen anybody any more ready to accept destiny.

A dull thud.

The sword had bounced uselessly off his skin. His clothing had not even been cut. Stunned she swung the sword once more, twice. Not a scratch, not a break, not any success. Finally she stopped and stared at him. "What magic do you hold?" she asked.

He looked up, and obviously didn't understand her. He hadn't even felt her blows. "Why can't I hurt you?" she cried and thrust her sword again straight at him. Another useless bounce.

His gaze just looked as annoyingly resigned as ever, although with a touch of bewilderment. "Who are you?" he asked one more time.

"I am Hail," she finally told him. "I am she who will clean this land of the blood that is no longer pure." She simplified it for him. "I'll get rid of anyone who isn't a Gerudo – as in men."

For once he showed pure emotion and laughed. She could even feel Nura being confused. On second thoughts that made her even more puzzled. How could a god be confused? They knew everything. Unless...

"I am the King of the Gerudos," he said, and his tone made her belief him. The thing within her was however stunned, and could have almost forced a gasp through at that moment.

She nodded slowly. "You were the last I had to finish – but you are already clean. Therefore this is over."

Flash – and she was back among the stone columns and the infinity, and she realised why she had felt Nura's confusion. For she was no longer a god, but a human standing before her.Finally, the voice ended, Hail's summons were done.

"Please…" begged the desperate woman, dressed now in a torn robe that now stood with her on the stone platform. . She had not even been given the honour of wearing nothing, for to do so would be to suggest that she was pure. She felt wretched, did that The woman looked wretched –. She felt as if she had just gained and then immediately lost the universe. ; as, to To some extent she had.

But Hail cared not and calmly walked forward, still clasping that blade that had killed her and so many so long ago. "You know of your crime," she said, now speaking in the common tongue that the woman could understand. "Nura, daughter of Gerudo, you have lived enough."

And the blade scratched against Nura's skin. She even saw tears in her eyes as Nura saw the blood falling from the wound. She was mortal now, but she must know that would soon soon end. For her credit, she stood upright and managed to not open her lips as it happened.

Her eyes wondered down to see the blade sticking through her heart, and she simply bowed her head. At last for her it was over. And also for the people she had left behind.

*-*

The left blade caught him while he was still surprised, and Link was sent sprawling to the floor.

Link stumbled as suddenly he found himself back in the fortress room. He only just managed to avoid a vicious swipe from Ganon's sceptre.

"Help me!" he cried, finding himself fallen to the floor in his hurry, and immediately almost a dozen Kalen ran to try and meet Ganon's blows. But, as Link He wearily got up, but already he could see that he knew it was too late. The master sword had stopped glowing, and he had a feeling it wouldn't have been much good anyway. It had just felt too unstable.

"What's going on?" asked Kaze. "There was a kind of flash where you were for a second. Did he – it I mean – do something?"

Link shook his head slowly. He didn't quite know himself what happened and he did not want to confuse this situation any more than it was already. The people in here, especially the children, looked frightened enough already without him mentioning Hail. And for once there seemed to be nothing he could do for Zelda. 

"Is everyone back yet?" he asked.

Kaze was about to answer when a warning shout of "Sadia!" suddenly rang in from the corridor. At once the civilians started shaking, and Link cursed for what must have been the fiftieth time that the Kalen's families also lived in the fortress. One young girl he saw resolutely trying to keep a straight face, all the time her body slowly shaking. Many children were sharing her example, and the older people looked no less brave. He saw many of the supposed to be wounded stand up and stagger their way over to the entrance into the corridor. This room would not fall easily.

He made his own way over (carefully staying out of range of Ganon as the Kalen continued to valiantly fight to keep him under control) and grimaced as he saw the approaching forty warriors.

"What are they doing?" asked an Xi in astonishment. He saw what she meant. As well as the thirty or so Sadia that were still running forward in warrior shape a metallic blur was flying. It looked like the one that had brought the Sages, except much smaller. Already several dozen arrows had been fired at it, but they seemed to pass through as harmlessly as if it was a normal cloud. He didn't see how they could stop it.

To his surprise the Sadia flew right up to him. Then, in a voice deep as any he had heard, it said, "I wish to speak alone."

"If you've got anything to say," Link told it, "you can say it here." 

"Please…" the Sadia begged, although he wasn't convinced of any weakness in its voice. "In the name of peace let me speak to you."

Kaze's look told Link clearly how much he trusted it, but when Link turned to Tai leaning on the floor he saw the opposite reaction. She thinks I should trust it, he told himself, and after all, why shouldn't I? Because you broke a promise with them earlier his mind reminded. Still, if the Sadia's honour was anything like as strong as he had been told... 

Slowly, he nodded to the Sadia. After all, they could have easily killed him if they wanted to by using trickery before now. He pointed to a small room that was off the main one and made his way over to it. The Sadia followed; it's floating form followed by every free pair of eyes. Link let it through the door, looked back to check that Ganon and the other Sadia were still under control and then softly closed it behind him. His last sight of the room was Kaze's worrying face staring at him. He considered that it showed how loyal he was by the sheer fact that he hadn't even argued with him about this.

"Let us come to Hyrule with you," the creature told him straight out when it was sure the others couldn't hear.

Link stared at the floating Sadia. He wasn't sure if he preferred it talking to a formless cloud or like it had been the last time he had seen something similar when at least a head had been sticking out of it. Both methods seemed about equally bad. Such a long time ago since had had been standing talking to the Sadia on the fortress tower. In reality it was a few hours. A few hours in which they had lost so much. 

"What?" he asked aloud. "Are you mad? How could I trust you not to attack it?" 

"We would give our honour," the cloud said, "not even to touch a subject of Hyrule for a century or more."

Link shook his head and even went as far as to laugh. The Sadia quickly started to speak again, "We have a gift in return. At least see it before you decide."

"I will see it," Link said, "but I will not change my mind."

"Very well," the Sadia replied and at once began its explanation. "You know that we can change our shape, do you not? But do you know how useful that gift is? We can turn into anything we wish; anyone we wish. Alas, we can not change our colour or make our skin solid. However, we can do better. We can flow, even through veins if we want. We can rejoin the mind, we can… Let me show you."

The Sadian cloud slowly lowered to the floor, and two separate Sadia warriors flowed out of it and so only a very thin grey haze was left. And then out of that haze was revealed something that could not be a Sadia. Link first saw the still pale flesh, and then the first locks of green came out. Agonisingly slowly the rest of the body stepped out.

Standing before him was his dead childhood friend. Except she was no longer dead, but standing up straight, all her muscles taught. She was a puppet in these things' hands.

"What have you done to her?" Link asked, feeling an anger like he had experienced never before swell up in him.

Then the whites of her eyes changed colour into the same hatred metallic colour he knew so well. Saria's mouth ever so slowly opened and then speech came out of it. Cruel twisted speech.

"This is not her alive. But it could be. I change my shape ever so slightly and her brain sparks into consciousness again. But if you do not fulfil your side of the bargain this time, she will die again. She need not even know how she was restored."

"Your decision?" one of the other Sadia asked.

Link stared over Saria's body, desperately trying to come up with some other way. But he knew of none. His heart tried to tell him that in a hundred years they could find some way to defeat the Sadia. Without her, his heart argued, they might not get back to Hyrule at all. Without Zelda, his mind argued, we might not get back even with Saria. If one person died because he had let Saria live… If she was really some kind of secret storage for the Sadia to carry themselves to Hyrule in... Could he decide who could live and who could die? Could Saria live with the knowledge that her life had killed someone else?

"Link… Please…"

Her grey eyes had been replaced with wet moist ones. He stared at them and tried not to remember the days they had played together in the lost woods. He couldn't help thinking back to how they had dodged the nuts that that the Deku monsters had shot at them, or how she had looked after him when one had hit or he had been ill. How she had given him her ocarina on that bridge so long ago.

"I'm sorry."

She seemed to nod ever so slightly as he shot his sword right through her heart; her mouth trying to resolutely stay shut but finally giving up and giving out a whimper of pain. The blade continued its swipe through her body, her flesh seeming to cut far too easily. It finally found air and then it was shooting through the heart of the Sadia on her left. He swung round, crouched onto his knees at first, and then pushed straight up through the body of the final Sadia.

And so he was alone with the body. And his bloodstained sword. He dropped again to the floor, and slowly pulled her body up into his arms.

"I'm so sorry."


	24. Twenty-Four

Twenty-Four ****

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Author's note: Well, here we are at last – the last chapter. Time to give my final round of thanks. First to StarDragon Blue, who read and reviewed this up to the eleventh chapter. Without that I may never have got round to putting the rest up. Second to David Reynolds, who gave me inspiration a long, long time ago with this. And also to everyone who has reviewed or emailed (Secret Writer, Yuuki, LauraCeleste, rage2, Seeking Serenity, Mystic Paladin, my friends Rico and John, Travis, konaboy, Robin Wright, Bunny Girle, Charisma, Coke, Mizra, Toby Aurora, Alex Foster and Peregrine). It makes a lot of difference. Best review award goes to "The almighty Zeldaholic" with "It majorly sucks. What in the hell is Link!". Really should have explained that one sometime – I hope wherever you are that you accept my apologies for that explanation not being included.

For once there will be no "Story So Far", as it seems a bit stupid to recount the story now. Sometime I've got to find a better way of doing that, as the whole thing was taking up to 2 pages by the last chapter. Perhaps I could use a method similar to what TV shows do, and write a quick summary of what's relevant for the chapter but assume you know the general background. Anyone else got any thoughts?

Finally – I'm still undecided on whether to write a sequel or not. If anyone was interested in one it would help a lot in making the decision.

To the second to last section then (there's an epilogue attached right at the end, but it's been posted along with this chapter). Thanks for reading.

Twenty-Four 

_"Link!"_

The young voice of the one trying to find him broke apart his thoughts. Of course she never would, after all she never had yet. When he tried the other places maybe, but this was his secret spot and it surely it couldn't fail him. At least he hoped so, for he had a feeling if she did find him here that she wouldn't be too happy. She had never liked the mess he had got into when he had gone into the caves, and this hole wasn't exactly an exception to the normal level of cleanliness of dark underground cavities. But then again, he had never asked her to wash his clothes – and he was learning to do it himself. He could do what he liked – it was his life.

"I'm going to find you..."

He risked a look out of the hole, but she wasn't there in the small bit of the forest that he could see. Then again her voice had definitely been close, and so he stayed crouched down and tried to control his breathing.

Then he felt something lightly tap him on the shoulder.

The shock was enough to make him scream, and after that run out and into the relative safety of the forest. He looked round quickly, desperately – Saria was a little way in the distance. As he sprinted towards her he saw her body turn around at the noise, and gaze at him. Her eyes filled with...

Nothing. Not a tear; not a spark of life. Emptiness and blandness that threatened to overwhelm him. Even the pale face around them could not compare – the eyes blazed out in its centre by their pure inactivity and made his body rebel. He could force his gaze off them, but it was only slight relief. The delicate mouth was still open as if forever stuck halfway through speech. He could still remember its comforting words. So long ago when life was simple and the world only stretched to where the trees ended. To when he had longed to see the world.

_"Link!"_

Saria ran in to support him as he tried to stagger out of his bed. Ignoring his protects she forcefully pushed him back under the covers and held her hand to his head. The foreign cool skin was a blessed relief, and a welcome contrast to the fire that seemed to burn in the rest of him. He felt as if his whole body was on the edge of eternally collapsing.

"I had another one of the dreams," he told her, but she was obviously only half listening. "It had fighting in it and..."

She looked sharply at him. Sometimes she seemed to think that the nightmares were his own fault. At his saddened face, her expression softened. "They're just dreams. Dreams never hurt anyone." He wished she didn't sound like she was trying to convince herself.

"Saria," he asked her. "Why is there no one else like me? Growing up I mean, and without a..."

She stopped him, but a definite hint of worry had returned to her face. "You're special Link, but you're not that special. Someday you'll be like everyone else." She sounded even less sure this time. Finally she brought out her strange instrument and softly played music to him. Reluctantly he fell asleep, and let the dreams of swords and fire take over again...

His own sword still in his hand, and the crimson blood still dripping down it. If only... If only so many things and at so many times. Life was a cruel game with too many choices and not high enough odds. A mask from long ago, a slightly better sense of strategy – too many ways he could have stopped this. Too many things he should have done.

_A deserted bridge in a deserted forest. So lost she looked as she watched him leave. Forever? _

Still clutching his new gift he turned his back on her and ran...

To destiny, and to her death.

*–*

Nala flung himself to the mud filled ground, finally glad to get some rest. He was far away enough now from the borders. Still close enough to see though, and he still could make out the hundreds crossing them from the country he had just left. He hoped with all his heart that those stretched behind them on the wrong side of Nurai's outermost edge reached quickly. There wasn't much time left, next to none at all.

And then the people stopped any semblance of order and desperately sprinted to the border that indicated safety. The ground they were running over was slowly fading to white – the Distile was beginning.

An old man flopped down to the ground besides him. "Our country is disappearing."

Nala smiled faintly. "Not quite."

The ground just inside Nurai's border was only slowly fading, unlike the land further in which was disappearing rapidly. The only reason he could guess was that dust from the land by Nurai had drifted into the now dying country on the wind, and that the outside material was still currently giving it some semblance of reality. Whatever the real explanation, he was glad that it was giving the people a last chance to escape.

The old man looked at him curiously. "You don't think this is the end?"

Nala shook his head. "The people are important, not the country. We'll rebuild eventually somewhere."

But that didn't help the people who were still stuck in the country. Especially the people who were now facing a flood of white racing towards them. It roared inwards, and swept up before it the country he had grown up in. All of it now wiped out or soon to be. It was all beginning, and all ending. Next to no time left at all.

*–*

She was awake.

And her name? Her name was… Was H… H… 

Zelda. Her name was Zelda. She was a princess. Yes, a princess of Hyrule. And her hair was blonde – never red – and her eyes would never be that shade either. If only time wasn't such a blur and she could remember more. She had too many questions that needed answering. Who was that boy lying on that floor with that body? A body? 

What was wrong with her? Why didn't she know so much? All right… calm down. Take a deep breath and…

It all came flooding back. Hyrule, the end of Hyrule, stepping on Lain's ship and… She couldn't remember what had happened since then. Except... Vague memories of a great sea battle. Of a grand ball, of blood and death. Of power. 

Link… that was Link lying on the floor there. She had finally found him. Who was that on the floor with him? Saria... What had happened?

It seemed like she hadn't directly told her legs to move for months as she stepped over to where Link was. The sound of her footsteps rang sharply in that cold silence and disturbed him enough to look up; his face a strange mixture of blood and tears.

"Zelda?" he asked. His voice was flat, as if the world no longer mattered.

She nodded. "I don't know," she said as he began to open his mouth again. "I just found myself standing over there." The rest could wait.

There was a window nearby, and Zelda happened to glance out of it.

"What's happened here?" she asked, looking in horror at the dark sky and the lightning that seemed to be raging down everywhere.

Link got up and looking out of the window too. "No time to explain, but… it's got worse. Look… I know this may all be a big shock to you but we need your help urgently. Ganon's in the next room and we need you to seal him up again in the Sacred Realm." His voice was too formal, and his instructions too concise. This was not him, but a pretend actor put in its place.

As he spoke a mountain range in the far distance suddenly started to flare up, and then in an instant, was gone. It looked to have disappeared from existence.

"Quickly," he told her, "we have to go now. The Distile has started for real."

Not quite understanding him, Zelda stepped back over to Saria's body and helped Link to pick it up. Link quickly led her through a door in the wall, and to her astonishment she found herself in a fairly large chamber. At first glance it did not seem so big though, for the room was almost totally filled by desperate and mainly injured people. The only space was in the centre of the room, just around where some thing – Ganon? – was being restrained by several men. On the far side another huge battle was taking place between some more men mixed in with some equally fierce looking women, and something that she couldn't see that was obviously coming down the corridor towards them.

"Zelda!" shouted Impa, who had seen her first. Her old nurse standing in a corner, and around her several of the other sages. What had been happening? 

Rauru quickly broke of from the main group and ran over to Zelda. Darunia didn't look so much shocked as amazed when he saw the body they were carrying. She winced – she had taken to calling Saria 'a body' already. 

Link shook his head as the old sage tried to speak. "No time," he explained. "The land is starting to disappear – we've got to get us all back to Hyrule now."

Saria was laid down in yet another corner, alongside the bodies of brave defenders who had fought and lost. Then Zelda ran over to the Sages at their beckoning. Ganon – the sages – Saria dead – this whole place... All she could do was follow orders and get someone to explain later. At least she soon found out what Link wanted her to do quickly. He wanted a repeat of the spell that had entrapped Ganon before. One worried glance at the monster in the room's middle and she tried to calm herself into the right state.

Link ran past them and even Ganon without much of a glance, and finally stopped where the battle with the Sadia was taking place.

Kaze was beside his side in a moment, and Link hurriedly began talking to him. "Look," he said. "We can not let the Sadia get into this room or get into Hyrule. They have to get trapped in Nurai. Nothing is more important than that. I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but your men..." He gulped involuntarily and then managed to get the final words out. "They need to do anything and everything they can to drive them back as far as possible."

Link had never asked anyone to die for him before.

Kaze stared at Link in the eyes for three agonising seconds, and then dropped his head. When it rose again there were slight tears in his eyes, but his face was defiant and his mouth could have almost been forming a smile. "Funny how things turn out sometimes," he said. "I search my life for you, and hey – my people searched centuries for you. And then days after we find you it turns out the world is going to end."

Link lowered his own face. "I'm sorry..." 

"Make it worth it. Then again, something tells me you already have." He spun on his feet and let loose a cry from his throat that no man could ever forget. A moment later and every Xi and Kalen in the room were by his side, the urgency of his non-verbal command clear to them. "The final charge starts now," he said quietly, "leave and the... the Xiam Kalendium will forget and forgive you. Stay and forever you are remembered, forever honoured." 

Maybe Link shouldn't have recognised the ritual as the rejoined Xiam Kalendium sprinted forward. After all, it had not been said for centuries since the old organisation had broke apart. But memories of his death remained, and some of the experiences of thousand that had come with it. Some prophecies still remained, and some ancient words. Words that every recruit to the old order had recited for thousands of years on their initiation into the Xi and Kalen's predecessor.

"And onwards we will charge like the nation we have become," he whispered. "Ever changing, and ever losing, but always one people and one name. History may lie, but our destiny to serve is the same." How could the Xi and the Kalen have become split for so long? 

"Till the end we shall never complain," Bren said softly as he stepped up besides, "till our gift is repaid, and the final glory ends. Till the final charge."

He nodded at Link, and then he too was padding off down the corridor. Where no man could return from. Where Link had just sent so many people to die at. He hated it, hated it with every fibre of his being.

"No. I have to go after them!"

Tai suddenly jumped off from where she had been lying, and desperately fought off the hands that restrained her. " I can't leave him alone. I can't – I..."

Link looked at her sadly. It was too late for her now. The battle in the corridor had already been forced back too far for her to do anything. But now he had to make use of the time that they had bought him.

He strode off to where the sages were still standing. They had to have their problems all sorted out by now. 

"We need a representative from the Kokiri," Zelda told him as he stepped up. "We think you can take Saria's place. For now, you'll be the temporary Sage of the Forest."

"But…" he started, before realising he had to try.

The other sages slowly began muttering, beams of light began to pour out of them again and slowly join up again into one great ball of power. Link looked desperately around, trying to know what to do. This was all happening too quickly. Finally, he drew his sword out as if it would help him. Where Saria's blood still lay.

He closed his eyes, and began talking desperately: "I, Link, Sage of the Forest, call on thy power to aid in the defeat of Ganondorf Dragmire."

Nothing. Absolutely nothing had happened, and it sounded terribly wrong. A new idea struck him. He tried again, "I, Link, King of the Gerudos..." Something was happening for he could definitely feel some power building up. He realised now that he always vague known the words to say; he had just longed not to have to speak them. Too late now. 

"I, Link, King of the Gerudos and Slayer of the Forest Sage," he started again, "call on Din, Farore and Nayru to honour thy chosen messenger's blood and to aid in the return of the Master of Power."

A great load was lifted off his shoulders, and as he opened his eyes he saw that the great mass of power was no longer floating above them, but was moving towards Zelda. It hit her, and her skin seemed to readily absorb it. Zelda shot out her hands, and yellow bolts poured out of them. Ganon roared as the energy gripped him, but it was of no use. He was restrained by the yellow power more securely than any iron ever could have done.

It was Link's turn now. He held the master sword ready, and ran towards the great hulk before him. As he ran peace seemed to drift into his mind. It would all be over soon – just one more thrust with the sword. He didn't even see that Saria's blood had disappeared from the blade.

The ground suddenly lurched. The Distile must have finally come to the castle. The farthest side of the castle probably no longer existed. Zelda just managed to stay upright, but her concentration was distracted, and her hold on Ganon broke. The monster flung his way forward at Link, who managed to stay standing still. He counted silently to three, and then with a loud cry he very firmly and deliberately thrust the ancient weapon up. It cut into the pig-like form even as Zelda's beams again connected with it and caught it tight in mid air.

For a moment everyone stared silently, not daring to breathe. Link's hands might be on the sword, but his gaze was on one of the windows showing the outside. The white Distile was approaching this side of the castle too.

In the corridor only three warriors still stood to face the Sadian onslaught. Twenty, maybe thirty enemies were charging up the corridor and the warriors were still busy with the two they were in the middle of fighting with. Darius went down, but in the distraction his two comrades finished off their respective Sadia. Only Bren and Kaze were left now. Far in the distance, just behind the oncoming Sadia, the corridor was being rapidly turned to white. The Distile had come and even the Sadia were struggling to outrun it. The rear most Sadia were caught by the tide, and disappeared as surely as if they'd never existed. But still around twenty at the front were managing to race onwards in front of it.

A quick gaze of mutual respect between the two men and then they were crouched low and ready. The first hostile came – a quick jump and it was dead. The Sadia weren't even bothering to morph out of their bird form any more.

Another two next, and those two went down, but only just in time for the Xiam to confront the next lot of three. One Sadia flung its way at Bren's left and he gasped. His left hand was gone. No matter now; he had always been right handed anyway.

Another four, and even as the two friends desperately flung there swords back and forward the roar of the white was filling their eyes and ears. Jump, dive, somersault, flip. Endlessly move but never stop. And still the Sadia came.

Five darted at the two warriors, and they only managed to stop three of them. Desperately they threw their weapons at the two that had got past. Destiny was smiling down at them, for both Sadia who had got past were hit. But their weapons were lost, and still four Sadia were left to fight.

No, two, for the white had again swallowed up the rearmost in the formation. If only those had the front had not been slight bit fast enough to stay ahead of the Distile. But they would surely make it, and the two warriors had nothing to stop them with. Nothing but themselves.

They waited till the last moment, and then leapt into the air. Desperately the Sadia tried, but they could not swerve quickly enough in time. The newly created human blockade impacted with them. One of them managed to cut its way through Bren's neck, but too late, too much time lost... 

The Distile flooded past and onwards, its final targets so close. It leapt up the final stretch of the corridor, and the faces in front of it stared in fear. 

And then a new flash of white emerged from within their room as if to fight the oncoming one. White on white, and power on power.

And Nurai was destroyed.


	25. Epilogue

Epilogue  ****

Epilogue 

It was the birds' singing that finally awoke him. A confused look around him and he finally realised that he was underneath a bush. Confused, he roughly shoved his way out of it and stared around. Beyond him and around a vast landscape spread. Behind was a medium sized stone wall running in front of it a small river. Acting as a bridge was the drawbridge that linked a path and the gap in the rock defence. Away from the path fields stretched, in some directions further then he could see. A small ranch seemed to lie in the middle of it all.

Hyrule, he realised with a start.

Shocked he got to his feet. He felt terrible, and from the way his clothes were torn, probably looked terrible. But somehow he felt like he was finally home again. 

"What happened to you?"

Malon was standing there, looking down at him with her hands full of the milk she always took on her regular early round. Maybe technically she was looking up, as she was shorter than he was, but it certainly didn't feel that way. Her face looked like she wasn't sure whether to be amused or shocked.

"I..."

Even his voice didn't feel right, and he really wished the light wasn't so bright.

"I mean when I saw you last night with Saria I thought you were drinking too much..."

The earth seemed to lurch and with a jolt it all came back. He suddenly ran past her, not even stopping to wave back. The pain in his head was gone, but it was already replaced by something much worse. The ground disappeared under his feet like it never had done before without using a horse, but still each step felt too slow.

He took the bridge into the Kokiri woods with two jumps and then almost frantically scrambled through the woods of his old home. One or two Kokiri were up already, and stared curiously at him. He didn't care what they thought. 

He flung her door open, and then his eyes finally fell on her bed. Slowly he walked the last few steps up to beside it. Stupidly he smoothed his hair, as if he was being respectful for a funeral. 

There she lay, tidily under the covers and her eyes restfully closed. Gradually he pulled back the sheets, but there was no wound there on her body. She could have died restfully in her sleep. 

The room seemed massive without the giant statue that had previously dominated it so well. 

That was Tai's first thought when she found herself kneeling in the main chamber of the Spirit Temple. The second was full of astonishment, but pleasure, as she saw the people standing where the god's stone form had been. The remains of Nurai's population from the Kalen Fortress stood awkwardly in its place, most of them staring around in wonder or trying to calm the children. Around fifty in all.

Raymus walked slowly forward from them, and she could see that he limped badly. He too must have been too injured to join the last charge. "Is this Hyrule?" he asked carefully.

She nodded wearily. The last charge – Bren.

"He didn't make it," she said. It was almost not a question.

Raymus shook his head sadly. "Nobody but us made it. Where is this?"

"The Spirit Temple," she replied, her breath a slight whisper. "We can rest a while if you want, but then we'll have to cross the desert. Its not far if you know the way."

The name of the Spirit Temple inspired slight recognition in his eyes. He had heard of it before somehow.

In the end it turned out that none of them, not even the children, really wanted to just wait there. As they all decided that it would be better for them to move somewhere more comfortable she led them the easiest way she knew out of the old building. Crossing the desert everyone seemed to find surprisingly easy. She supposed wearily that it was nothing compared to what they had all been through in the last few days. In the end it didn't take long to reach the Gerudo Fortress, and when she did so she quickly got those stationed there to awaken the others. Soon the refugees were bundled into welcoming homes.

Raymus and a few other appointed leaders rode with two of Tai's friends towards the Castle. They needed to meet the ruling body there and to discuss what was to happen. Places would needed to be found for the newly lost people, even if Hyrule was unaware of all that had just happened.

Tai decided not to go with them – she had something else she wanted to do. She found another horse, quickly saddled it, and then made her own way across the central green fields.

__

You couldn't have done anything for him even if you had gone.

Rein. Rein was in her head. Proof, if any other proof was needed that Bren had died.

"Did he die well?" she asked quietly.

__

He died saving you and everyone else.

She nodded. That sounded about right. Her horse finally came to the entrance into the woods and she quickly galloped on in. To her surprise she didn't find the usual guard standing watch that she was expecting. In fact the woods as a whole were deserted. Not worried quite yet she followed the path along through the strange wooden homes. She had a feeling that she knew where they would be.

When she came into the clearing where the Deku Tree stood she found out that her suspicions had been right. All of the Kokiri were sitting there, in a solemn semicircle around the old tree. Just in front of it was a patch of recently disturbed grass, and besides that Link sat. Finally free of all responsibilities.

As he saw her, Link nodded, and then looked slowly back to the ground again. Gently he pulled out his ocarina and put it softly his mouth. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he began to play the song that so long ago Saria had taught him. 

Tai stayed with him for several minutes as he played, and then respectfully made her way of the forest. Even as she crossed the bridge she could still hear the eerily haunting melody behind her. She shook her head to try and get rid of it, and then rode determinedly on.

But back in the forest Link kept playing, for while he played she didn't seem dead. And at last he stopped, and he had to accept it.

It was over.


End file.
